Old Gray: Color Me Fighting Hiei's Silent Child
by Jaganchi B
Summary: as requested this is the squeal to Deep blue,color me lonely.This story takes place 11 years later.Hiei and Selena's relationship has weakened. Selena is told she is going to go on a mission.she also has no time for old relationships. Her only focas is on
1. Old Crushes, Unpleasent surprizes

**_TO THE READERS: this is the squel to deep blue: color me lonely. it takes place 12 years later, so Selena is 21. But you also see several flashbacks from when she is 17, you'll see. i know in the first one she is like a little child adn is all "daddddddy" and hiei is all "awwwwww" but you have to remember they are father and daughter. so now that Selena is a teenager, of course they are going to fight another note, Hiei has NEVER hit Selena. Never even come close, unless you count a slap on the butt when she was being naughty, so ya you'll see what i mean stay tuned and PLEASE REVIEW! THANKS BUNCHES TO MY LOYAL READERS FROM THE LAST ONE,_**

**_a/n I am trying this again, it is not a new chapter, it is a revised chapter. I am going to try this again. please bear with me._**

"Come in." growled Selena.

Kurama poked his red head in. "Are you ready, Jaganchi Selena?"

"Alright, alright Im gone. have fun on your date." Inu called on his way down the steps.

"It is NOT a date!" howled Selena, but her rosy cheeks gave it away. Kurama chuckled. "Shut up, Kurama!" she snapped, she meant it as a joke, but it came out mean. "Sorry, I didnt mean it to sound like that" Kurama shrugged as if to say 'all is forgiven' Kurama brused it off. He knew she was just stressed lately. They were very close.

She got out of the car and began to follow Kurama into the small coffee shop. "S\o...who's this mystery guest? If its not my Dad and Im sure its not Yusuke becuase he's on a new mission. Who..."

"You shall see." smirked Kurama. "I think its nice Yusuke has someone to care about now."

"What are you talking about ,Fox?"

":Yusuke always wanted children, thought it was funny to corrupt the mind and make his own flesh and blood just like him, but sadly Kayko was infirtal, in other words, she was unable to have children. Irionically, Hiei was the first to have a child...he did it acidentally, but he lovews you just the same. Nobody else has a child. Even if Yusuke...or your father for that matter, wont admit it, they like each other. Therefore,, Yusuke started on you.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" snapped Selena, causing Kurama to burst out laughing as he held the door open for her. "Whats so funny."

"You are a mix," explained Kurama. "You have Yusuke's personality, cunning and jumping into battles without thinking." Kurama smiled, "and sometimes you cant control your mouth. You are also like Hiei, you have a fighting style that is nearly never defeated. and comebacks that are so dry and said with no emotion, that you know they have sunk in, and also make your opponent dumbfounded." They sat down and waited for the waitress. "You have a little bit of all of us, Even me, you are kind and care for all of us. You believe there can be good in all people."

Before Hiei's daughter could reply a voice rang out through out the whole cafe. "Selena Jaganchi!" The fire demon whipped around in her seat to see the _teenage _version of Koenma. He seated himself next to Kurama as the waitress came.

"Warm milk." declared Koenma, Selena raised an eyebrow.

"I would like hot green tea, please" Kurama

"Red coffee."

Kurama shook his head, "Just like your father. Plesure seeing you here Lord Koenma. What brings you,"

"Cut the crap, Kurama. Whats this all about?" declared Selena.

"Erm..." said the men in unison, both looking uncomfortable.

"Well we might as well just tell her." said Koenma, "the sooner the better." he paused. "Selena, you have grown up knowing all about the four worlds, You know of who is on who's side. You know how to fight as well as as we could have hoped. Not just physical, but mental as well. Also, you have amazing spirit energy. The last time we saw this much spirit energy mesh with demon energy was in Yusuke Uremeshi."

Selena's jaw dropped, this was not at all what she was expecting. She tried to follow all he was rambling about in _the good old days,_ but couldnt so she just zoned out until Kurama said "Many before you have risked thier lives."

"Wait...what?" she exclaimed coming back into reality. She rubbed her temples, feeling as if she had been hit by a truck.

"Many before have risked thier lives and died on tis mission, but we feel you will suceed, giving all your recouses and life personality. we have faith in you ." explianed Koenma.

"Erm..right, mission...cool?"

"You will be working with the junior spirit team, do you remember them from 4 years ago."

"5"

"pardon?"

"it was 5 years ago."

"right, well they will be at your side, but you will also have communications with us if needed. " said Kurama, giving her a nervous smile.

"And what of Hiei?" asked Koenma

"Taken care of." anwsered Kurama

"As of when?" asked Selena.

"About...an hour ago" anwsered Kurama

"How did that go down?" she asked carefully.

"He didnt up any fuss from the word go." said Kurama, "Said it would be good for you. Teach you life, to put your on the line as he put it."

_so he doesnt care if I live or die?_ thought the child, hurt. She pretended to yawn, rubbing her tears away, she hadnt cried since she was 11. What was wrong with her? Crying over that damned demon. What did she care what he thought of her.

"Do you accept?"

Honestly, Selena hadnt even heard what the mission was, but just to spite Hiei, she declared. "Let them hit me with thier shot." Kurama looked away.

"That's what we like to hear." said Koenma, "Now, you must go and collect your effects, You will be excused from school. You will leave when I give the word, but train hard until then, We dont know when exactly you will be leaving, days, months, weeks, no one knows, but you must always be ready, even in the dead of the night."

"Right," said Selena, beginning to get up, "I'll go right now."

Kurama also got up, "Let me drive you."

"No thanks." said Selena, and she snapped her fingers and Kurama held out his arm and yelled, "wait!" but it was too late, she had vanished on the spot.

"That was odd," muttered Selena, landing in front of her house, having instantly teleported herself there. Selena yanked out her keys, wondering if Kurama would be coming here anyway, even since she didnt want a ride. Even if he was coming, it would take him 35 minutes at least to get there.

Selena entered the house, gasping in open mouth horror at the sight that greeted her.

**_THERES THE FIRST CHAPTER I HAVE POSTED A FEW OTHERS STORIES ALSO WELL CHIO FOR NOW_**

**_JAGANCHI B_**


	2. The challange

The house she was standing in was not hers. or at least it didnt seem to be. The entry way, usually neat and inviteing and filled with pictures of Selena, Hiei and the rest of the team. Also there was a few of Boton before she died. Acually, she noted, the room was seemingly bare. She walked down the hallway, once again, no pictures. Finally in the living room there was a single photo. But it was one that Selena had never seen before. It was a picture of Hiei and a woman with orange hair and a cunning smile.

Continuing up the stairs to her room Selena tripped on the top stair, making her almost take a head-first dive over the banister. When she opened the door to her room, she gasped. All her things were in her closet. A sign hung on the door: Makuro's office. It was as if Hiei had replaced Selena while she was away at school. Without warning something swung down and hit Selena in the head. her last thought before passing out was _an intuder trap, no doubt._ Then everything went black.

_Selena ran screaming at the top of her lungs down the street, fearing for her life. Although she didnt know what she was running _from._ Someone was chasing her, but she didnt know who that someone was. But she wasnt stupid enouph to wait around and just let them catch her. Selena saw a flash of black blur pass her on the left. She screamed. As Hiei stood in her path causing heis daughter to hault. Hiei drew his sword. "D..dad." She gasped. Why was he drawing his sword, was there something behind her?_

_"No there is nothing behind you, you are the one I am after today." (she forgot he could read minds) He snarled._

_Selena made sure she kept the tears from her eyes. "B...But why?"_

_Hiei's crimson eyes flared. "Why?...you made my life a living hell!!!" he swung his sword, not holding back and kept swinging. Selena tried to dodge, but to no avail. Hiei was the one person Selena had never had any hope of defeating. She felt as weak as the first time he tried to train her. Knocked off her feet, Hiei had the sword at her neck, his Jagan Eye flaring. The women with the orange hair smirked widely._

_"Any last words?" she hissed._

_But then she heard a new voice, almost whispering it kept repeating her name. Hiei was frozen in his spot. "Selena,Selena,Selena,Selena,Selena,Selena..._

Selena awoke with a start, laying in Kurama's arms, she was drenched in sweat. Real tears running down her pale face. Covering her black hair, making it stick to her neck. she rubbed her eyes. Kurama sat her up but did not remove his hand from her shoulder. His other hand was grasping the female's right hand. Selena felt a little bit uncomfortable. "What happened?" Kurama asked gentally.

"I came in, and this wasnt my house...b...but it was. I mean, everything was changed and then I blacked out. I had this awful dream. I mean, it was terrible and the next thing I knew, I hear someone calling my name. and I woke up here."

Kurama nodded and began to get to his feet "Can you stand?"

Selena nodded. "I think so". Kurama offered his other hand to her and she took it, Kurama pulled her to her feet, but Selena was dizzier than she thought. Without warning, Selena fell into Kurama, her cheek banged into his chest accidentally.

"Careful" said Kurama, grasping her elbows gentally. Not letting go, Kurama led her across the room. "Here, sit down." No sooner were the words out of his mouth, then Selena gasped again.

She glanced around the room and clasped a hand to her mouth, it was her room. "Wait! No! Kurama I swear, Im not making this up! It wasnt my room, this wasnt my house. I swear."

"I do believe you" said Kurama as he smiled gentally at her.

"You do?" Selena smiled at him with tears drifting from her eyes.

"I do." Kurama held Selena in his arms, hugging her close. "This is why I wanted to drive you home, to avoid this heartache. Its cruel, this harsh shock to you. I..."

"But...all Im asking is...why?" Selena couldnt hold it back anymore. the tears fell and she sobbed into the fox's arms. Kurama patted her jet-black hair softly.

"I wanted to avoid this" said Kurama.

"That doesnt anwser my question, Kurama." she spat, tears evaporating, she pulled her away. Kurama tried to hug her again, but she resisted. "Just anwser the question, Kurama!" she yelled.

"Dont raise your voice to Kurama, Selena. I raised you better than that!" Hiei boomed from the doorway.

Selena whipped around to face her father. Before he could say more, Selena spat. "You didnt even raise me, you let other people raise me. You go off and screw with some ugly orange-haired braud who you replaced me with!"

That ticked Hiei off quite bit. Kurama saw Hiei's normally golden eyes flash crimson.. Kurama hopped up and stood next to Selena at the same time Selena raised a fist, as Hiei's hand flew to his sword. Hiei had a small smirk cross his face. Kurama wasnt sure if Hiei was amazed or too pissed to be. "Drop your fists and watch your mouth Selena Jaganchi!" His eyes narrowed warningly.

Selena also narrowed her eyes "Why dont you make me." she challanged.

Hiei's eyes flashed once more. Being quick as lightning, he raised his hand but Kurama got in the way. "No! Hiei, dont! It is unforgivable to hit your child. Please, lower your hand!"

**tee hee big cliffhanger stay tuned. lol lol lol lol lol**

**-jaganchi B**


	3. Go after her

Hiei's eyes flashed once more. Being quick as lightning, he raised his hand but Kurama got in the way. "No! Hiei, dont! It is unforgivable to hit your child. Please, lower your hand!"

"Move Kurama!" Hiei demanded.

"I will not! Srtike me if you must, but do not hit you daughter out of anger." Kurama wouldnt move unless someone moved him themselves, which they did. But to the fox's surprize, it wasnt Hiei, it was Selena she had shoved him pretty hard.

"Just do ahead and hit me, Hiei. You know you want to." she egged.

Kurama leapt to his feet and stood inbetween and towered over both the Jaganchis. "Please calm down Hiei, you must explain this to her, if you dont, I will." Kurama threatened

"Kurama," Hiei glared daggers at his friend. "Dont make me rip out your precious voicebox" he breathed heavily, but wasnt finished. "She doesnt need to know, she just ned as good kick in the ass"

"You wouldnt dare...you're afraid" mocked Selena. Hiei and Kurama did nothing. "You love her dont you,You love her more than me!" Hiei said nothing. Selena gasped. "You...you do! Whats her name? who is she??!?!?!?!" she demanded

"Her name is Makuro. She and your father have a long time alliance." Kurama answered If Selena wasnt standing there, he would have attacked the fox on the spot.

"And what alliance is that? Did you screw too many times, and now you share a bed?" This time, Hiei really did hit her, that is to say he backhanded her, knocking her to the ground. Kurama went to help her up, but Hiei ordered,

"Dont touch her." Kurama struggled to cain control over the situation.

_You just hit me!_ Selena wanted to scream_ You just hit your baby! _but she knew it would do no good. She placed her right band on the her now warm and red cheek on which Hiei had struck her.

The women Kurama had called Mukuro entered. "Hiei, Kurama!" she gasped, feeling the tension in the room. "What the hell is going on in here?"

Selena stomped to her feet. "You can go to hell," she declared looking at Mukuro, "You and my father both" With that she slamed the dorr behind her, leaving the demons and a helpless Makuro, dumbfounded.

Selena ran and kept running. She felt the tears being whipped from her face as she ran at an amazingly fast speed. How had things come to this? Selena remembered when she first met Hiei, she was only a child, just nine years old. 12 years had passed since then. She was very opular with lots of friends. She was a junior in highschool. So...why was she so bitter? She had had boyfriends. All in all she had had a pretty happy life since then. She was popular, but that didnt matter now. She was joining the spirit team and her life would never be the same again. She would never return to that school again.

Selena all the way to her favorite forrest and found the tree where she had found her first love. Hikaru... But then, they went theier seperate ways both knowing they could not ask the other to give thier life up so that they could be together she had to return home so he left with the team. But this was still her special tree. Glancing behind her, she leapt to the top branch and put her head on her knees and just sobbed.

(BACK AT THE HOUSE)

Hiei stared down at his stinging hand, if he had hurt himself this much pysicaly, he could only imagine what he had done to his daughter. Kurama put his arm on the wall to steady himself. _well that was unpleasant._ Mukuro looked around the room "Call me oblivious," she said, "But...what just happened here?" Instead of anwsering her Hiei left the room with out a word. Kurama watched him go.

"Im sorry, Miss Makuro. Hiei and his daughter are having family difficulties.

"Family difficulties?" she questions.

"Selena didnt know about you and Hiei's _double life_ in the end Selena was so disrespectful she made hiei very angry and he struck her."

The carrot-top nodded. "Finally"

Kurama's eyes flickered a little with sadness and a tiny bit of pity."F...finally?"

"I didnt mean, he finally hit her, I meant finally...she found out. I only did about a year ago. When the rooms didnt switch themselves. Cant tell you how much of a shock that was. And she's a child"

"She's not a child, she is 21"

"Still a child"

"Maybe by age wize, but I know better. She puts on a brave face. I know certain things can get to her." Kurama sighed. They heard a crash downstairs They both ran down the steps to find Hiei, he apparently was trying to retrieve a picture of Selena it had fallen and sliced his hand. Blood dripped down onto the floor. Hiei quickly grabbed the towel that Kurama had offered him and mopped up the blood on the floor.

"I think that was for your hand, Hiei." muttered Makuro.

"Hn." once all the blood on the floor had been cleaned up, Hiei allowed Kurama to carefully bandage his hand.

"So whats your next move?"asked Kurama. but was ignored. Hiei yanked the white headband and uncovered his Jagan eye. The eye glowed greenm but Hiei's expression did not change. He silently got up and punched a nearby wall. Blood leaked throug the fresh bandaid. Hiei sat down with his head in his hand. Kurama knew what was happeneing with out asking. He placed a hand gentally on Hiei's shoulder, surprizingly, Hiei did not shrug him off. "Where is she?" Kurama asked.

"That stupid tree where she was attacked by the panther demons when she first got here. The first time she ran away."

Kurama nodded. Mukuro gasped. "Well?" she demanded. "Arent you going to go after her?"

"Whats the point? We'd be luckt if she talked to Kurama at this point. Kurama, you go after her."

"Thats not a bad idea." said Kurama, and with out another word, he left the house.


	4. Old Friends and OLDER friends

Selena pushed herself against the tree trunk, wishing herself a different life. "Why...why me? When did it all go so wrong? Hikaru, why did you have to go away?"

Kurama came out of the shadows, "I remember Hikaru, he wouldnt want you to cry, besides you still have friends and family."

Selena wiped her eyes and looked at Kurama, "Please go away"

"I wont." Kurama looked up. "Are you going to come down, or do I need to come up."

"Do what you wish. Im not moving." Kurama liked nature, so without hesitation easily climbed up the tree and sat down next to her.

"Come back home"

"No. _Maybe_ I'll go back to school, Maybe I wont. I do have a mission coming up from Koenma soon ya know."

"Do you even know what the mission is?"

Selena opened her mouth to speak, then closed her mouth again, a little while later she said, "Well no"

"Exactly"

Selena stuck out her tounge at her friend. "So... are you going to tell me waht the mission is, instead of just sitting here"

"If you come back to the house."

Selena crossed her arms stubbornly, "No."

"Come on Selena, Your father is a mess. He's offly sorry he hit you."

"Doubt it"

"Selena!" Kurama did not get a chance to say more., Selena whipped around, her crimson eeys blazing.

"Kurama, just shut up! you dont care about me, and everybody who dows care about me is mad at me!" Selena finally let the tears fall, Little rubies fell to the ground.

"You dont mean that." Said Kurama, pulling her close. Her tears turned into jewels, and once again stained Kurama's shirt.

She dried her eyes once more and pretend puted saying, "Yes I do."

"No you dont" Kurama laughed. Selena laughed as well. She continued to pout. "Come on home"

Selena picked herself up and jumped down, she motioned to Kurama who landed softly next to her. He handed Selena a beautiful white rose. She smiled and stuck the bud in her hair. "Thank you, Kurama"

3 months past. Selena did not return to school. She just trained and hung out with childhood friends, Jin and Touya. Back when she lived with Marcy, they had been friends, when she was 12 they found ehr again and moved closer they were still that close. They eagarly awaited the word from Koenma to leave, but the greatest surprize was yet t be revealed.

There was a knock on the door. Hiei got up, grumbling all the way to the door. He opened the door and got an unsuspected guest.

Yukina.

"Hello Hiei, may I come in?" Hiei moved out of the way and held the door open. "Hiei, how is your daughter?"

"erm" Hiei shut the door behind the girl.

"Word from Koenma is that this mission Selena is being sent on, takes place in the ruins of maze castle, and she wont be going alone."

"Do you know who?"

"Not a clue."

Kurama entered the room. "Hello, Yukina."

Yukina bowed and looked at her brother.

"Well, where is the girl?"

"The girl, Hiei? Cant you even use your own daughter's name!" exclaimed Yukina.

"Hn"

"She is with Jin and Touya. They are sitting on the roof, first time in days Ive seen her doing absolutly nothing."

"Yes that makes perfect sense, when not in battle, we'll have a pillow fight" Hiei said sarcastically.

"Hiei, I dont think you have noticed something."

"And what is that, Fox?"

"She's not the same as she used to be." Kurama looked out the window "for example, look at her now, her only focas is on training. She pushes herself more and more each day, she only breaks for food and sleep. Uh-oh"

Hiei's ears perked up "Uh-oh?"

Yukina excused herself, she knew Selena seeing the jr Spirit team after 5 years would be hard, but she didnt want to see it.

Selena quickly turned her back. "Take a break" begged Touya, lightly touching her hand.

"No, not until the mission is over, I couldnt, and I refuse to" The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she felt an all-to-familiar aura approaching, she bowed trying to excuse herslf quickly but it was too late, he had spotted her.

**oh!cliff hanger! please review and stay tuned**


	5. Place your concern elsewhere, Fox

**_I am going to explain something before I start this chapter, you may notice quite a few new characters, but let me explain why. This storys main character is Selena, Hiei's daughter. So the yu yu hakusho is there a little bit, but mostly Hiei and Selena and the jr Spirit team. Each person on the team, represents someone on the jr spirit team, they trained them and all in all act like them. in Akio's case even look like them, because he is Kurama's brother, so here is your key:_**

**HIKARU: HIEI**

**AKIO: KURAMA**

**HOJO: YUSUKE.(IZAIOI IS HIS GIRLFRIEND)**

**ARATA: KUWABARA**

**GINA: YUKINA (AND LIKE HIEI, GINA IS HIKARU'S SISTER)**

**HANA: BOTON.**

**KAYKO: (SELENA HAS NEVER MET HER YET) IZAIOI_ get it? ok so on with the fic!!!!!!!_**

Hikaru felt as though time had spun itself backwards five years. She hadn't changed much in appearance at all, but her skill had, drastically. She was dodging most of the attacks being launched at her and she wasn't effected at all by the visitors that had arrived.

He hurried to the top to find Genkai in a heated battle with a younger version of herself. The two women were viciously kicking the crap out of each other. Off to the side Touya and his old teammate, Jin, were watching and laughing.

"Is that all you've got to show?" Touya chuckled and the young woman didn't hesitate to launch an attack on him.

The group watched as she took on not one, not two, but all three of them. Jin had taken to the air and Touya and Genkai attacked from the opposite sides. The young woman was able to handle herself.

"Excuse me." Etsuko bowed quickly before hurrying inside the house, running right into Hiei

"Selena?"

"Not now, Im busy" she tried to scoot around him but he wouldn't let her. "What?" she spat angerly

"Where are you going?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because Im you…" he yelled, but she had already zipped out of sight. "Father," he finished lamely. Kurama was right, she was not the same.

"Jogging." Touya said quietly, "She's done it every day since..."

"Since what?" Hikaru looked to the ice demon

"Erm, never mind. I cant really say, She will have to tell you when she's ready." They chatted a while, and finally the truth came out. The jr spirit team was coming here. They were going to on mission too, after all these years they were going to see each other again.

"Ah!" Touya jumped to his feet, "Sounds like it was a quick run. Shall we see if she wants to spar again, Jin?"

"Sure!" Jin rose as well and followed Touya from the room.

He hurried out of the room, not stopping to say anything to Genkai or Akio. He had other things to do. He wanted to talk to Selena. He didn't know why, but something was bugging him.

He noted fairly quickly that Touya and Jin were not with her. Must have been an excuse, stupid demons.The two demons were now lounging lazily on the roof. He peered into the room and watched as Selena battled invisible beings with a katana. She was graceful in her movements and he was impressed with her technique. He stepped into the room slowly, his eyes never leaving her form. Her eyes strayed to him briefly before her focus went back to the katana in her hands. After a deep breath, or maybe it was a sigh, she continued on, ignoring Hikaru altogether. A gesture that didn't go unnoticed by him.

After a few minutes of watching, (and being continuing ignored,) Hikaru growled and started across the room towards her. One way or another he wanted answers. She stopped and closed her eyes.

"I have nothing to say to you." she spat, Hikaru continued forward.

"What's going on with you?" his voice was loud in her ear and she opened her eyes. He was right next to her. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She started to walk away from him, but Hikaru was quick to grab her arm and stop her.

Selena turned back to him "What the hell do you want with me? I have things to do!" She yanked her arm out of his grasp, "Or have you not noticed I'm busy?"

"Hn."

"Just as I figured! Same response as always! You haven't changed!" she pushed him away roughly, "Get away from me and let me train! I don't need you in here disrupting me!"

"I don't..."

"Never mind!" she screamed, dropped the sword on the floor and stormed out of the room, leaving Hikaru a bit stunned by her outburst. There was definitely a lot of stress and tension coming from her but what was the cause? He would have thought she'd have wanted to see him

Hiei had heard the whole thing. He didn't know much about the demon, he had only trained him, its not like they were buddies. Just what he had heard from other people was all he knew. Cold, distant. Emotionless, but also is strong (and easily confused by human emotions) Also, had a firey temper and didn't like to have his "authority" challenged.

"Go away." she snarled furiously back in the training room after Hikaru had left it, "Unless you're here to spar with me, then don't bother me."

"Every time we spar you always get mad when you lose." Touya chuckled and she rolled her eyes, "But if you're looking to lose and throw a tantrum, then by all means I'll spar with you."

"Get to the point, Touya. You're not here to spar with me and I'm wasting time standing here."

"You need to talk to him."

"That again?" she snorted and crossed her arms over her chest, "Can't you ever mind your own business?"

"It'll only get worse the longer you put it off. You know that, Selena."

"I will talk to him when I am ready, Touya. Until then, stay out of it."

"Fine, fine, I'll stay out of it. You're so stubborn. Sometimes" Touya smirked

"and proud of it" she shot.

" Touya took a fighting stance across from her, "Ready?"

"Just go"

She sat quietly under the lone tree at the top of the hill. The place held many memories for her and it brought her a bit of peace in her currently stormy life. Every time she sat still like this she always broke down.

"I'll let them down. All of them. The mission will fail, I wont be strong enouph to protect them to protect him. I'm so worthless." tears fell from her eyes, dropping down to the hands shaking in her lap. Her head shot up quickly when she felt two energies approaching. Just on the horizon, Akio and Hikaru were making their way towards her. She rose to her feet and then jumped onto one of the branches above. She wiped her tears from her face, "It's not like they won't notice."

Akio and Hikaru stopped just short of the tree. It was the first time that day that they had seen her sitting still and doing nothing. They heard her sigh softly before leaping down from the tree and walking by them.

"Selena, please, will you talk with us? We are concerned about you." Akio called out to her. She stopped but did not turn around.

"Place your concern elsewhere, fox." she said coldly before continuing on. Akio glanced at Hikaru but Hikaru's focus was on Selena's retreating form, traces of worry clearly visible in his crimson eyes.

"What do you think?"

"She's hiding something. Your brother is hiding something and that stupid ice demon is hiding something."

"She had been crying."

"I know."

"I guess we'll wait?"

"It's all we can do." Hikaru shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away.

Akio watched his friends leave the clearing each in a different direction

**ok ill will try and update real soon**


	6. Its not my fault Jin is slow on his feet

he was the first up, as usual, right at sunrise. It was very routine for her. Her body had grown accustomed to the early morning wake up over the years. This morning she decided to get right to the stretching. Normally she'd go for an early morning swim, but today, she just didn't feel like it. Today she wanted to practice some of her other skills.

She had just settled into a comfortable position on the floor when the door slide open and a young brunette girl poked her head into the room. Selena watched her for a few moments until the girl realized she was there.

"Um, good morning." the girl spoke gently to her and smiled politely.

"Morning." Selena replied, "You are?"

"I'm sorry." Izaioi bowed, "I'm Izaioi Yukimura."

"Hojo's girlfriend?"

"How did you know?" Izaioi was surprised. Apparently someone had spoken of her before.

"He spoke of you the last we talked a few years back. Actually, now that I remember, it was Arata that mentioned you and Hojo."

"Can I sit with you while you practice? There's no one else up yet."

"Yes, that's fine. I'm Selena by the way. Selena Jaganchi." she offered her hand and Izaioi gladly accepted it.

Izaioi took a seat nearby and watched as Selena went through breathing techniques and stretching before moving on to practice punches and kicks.

"Can I ask you something?" Izaioi questioned Selena hesitantly. She didn't want to bother her, but she was curious.

"Depends on the question." Selena replied and punched the air again.

"May I ask how long you've been doing this?"

"Do you mean training?"

"Yes."

"Started when I was four Kick My mother was a real bitch and sometimes beat me kick as did my step dad punch, ran away and found my dad Hiei kick, punch At age nine, he trained me punch punch met those guys when I was 17 kick punch kick Im 21 now"

"No wonder you're really good!" Izaioi gushed, amazed, "17 years is a long time!"

Selena stopped and stared at Izaioi for a few moments. She shook her head and smiled.

"Are you up for a quick walk?" she asked and Izaioi agreed.

"Sure! Hojo won't be up anytime soon and it'll give us time to get to know each other." Izaioi stood quickly and followed Selena from the room.

In the hallway leading to the front door Selena stopped and Izaioi stepped next to her to see what was up. Standing before them was Hana and Gina.

"Oh! Good morning, ladies!" Hana cheerily smiled, "I wasn't expecting anyone to be awake yet!"

"Good morning, Hana. Gina." Izaioi smiled.

Selena glanced back down the hallway from where they had come from. She could feel someone watching her from the shadows. She glared back at whomever it was before dismissing it and turning back to the girls.

"Izaioi and I were just about to go for a walk, would you like to join us? We can catch up on some things." Selena gestured towards the door. Hana and Gina agreed. It would be nice to catch up.

Akio stepped out into the hallway once the girls had left. He was almost tempted to follow the group, but thought better of it. Instead he tracked Hikaru down and found the hybrid in his room sitting on the windowsill looking out.

"Gina is here." Akio leaned on the windowsill next to Hikaru.

"I can see that." Hikaru's gaze shifted to rest on Akio, "What do you want, fox? You're not going to attempt another discussion about the girl, are you?"

"The girl, Hikaru? Are you back to thinking so little of her? Or is it that you just can't bring yourself to say her name?"

"What do you want, fox?" Hikaru re-asked his question. He was not in the mood to deal with Akio's teasing.

Akio glanced down to the ground below and watched the girls sit on the grass just a short ways away. He smiled as Hana's happy voice drifted to his ears and Selena had laughed.

"At least she has some girls to talk to. Perhaps she'll open up to one of them."

"Is that all you're in here for?" Hikaru jumped down from the windowsill, fully prepared to take off and ignore Akio and others for the day.

"I only came to let you know that Gina had arrived."

"Hn."

"Tell me, Selena, what have you been doing the past five years?" Hana plucked a tall blade of the green grass and twirled it between her fingers before looking up to the girl.

"Practicing, training and teaching." Selena stated quickly, "My life was fairly routine until recent."

"Were you teaching students martial arts?" Gina asked softly.

"Yes and no. I was teaching some fighting, but I was also teaching a couple dance classes as well." Selena answered and sighed, "I'll get back to my normal life after the mission, although I will probably not return to school and continue training instead and wait for other missions. "

"I admire your strength, Selena." Hana said sadly, "But between you and the guys, I know you'll be able to win. You've obviously grown stronger since I last saw you."

"The enemies leader, Ranku is stronger, therefore, I must get stronger. No one else will fight him. No one else will be able to fight him. I won't let them." Selena growled angrily, "I'll make him pay for this."

"I can't believe that someone would rip spirtits from thier souls in spirit world. It's not right. Hojo is very livid about it too." Izaioi replied and crossed her arms over her chest, "I wish there was a way I could help. I'd love to punch that creep in the nose."

"Don't worry. I'll punch him once just for you." Selena smirked and the other girls laughed, "Well, breakfast should be ready soon. We should head inside."

They gathered around the table for breakfast. Genkai could sense that Selena's stress wasn't as bad as the day before. Having the girls there seemed to be a positive thing and Genkai allowed herself to relax a little.

Selena finished and bid the group a good day before sauntering off for more training. Hana looked up as a few sets of eyes landed on her. Her eyes met Akio's first and then caught with Hojo's and then Hikaru's.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" she looked to Izaioi who shook her head no and shrugged.

"Spill it, Hana. We know you talked to her this morning." Hojo demanded and both Hana and Izaioi snorted in unison.

"We didn't talk about much." Hana answered first.

"And even if we did talk about something important, it wouldn't be any of your business, Hojo." Izaioi chided her boyfriend.

"We only talked about little stuff." Gina added, "Just about what she did for the past five years and a little about someone named Ranku."

"Did you guys honestly think we'd tell you what we discussed?" Hana was irate, "If she was to confide in us a secret, I would never dishonor her by telling any of you!"

Hana stood abruptly and stormed from the room. Akio sighed softly and got up to follow after her, leaving the rest of the room staring at each other with mildly surprised expressions. Who knew Hana could get that angry?

"Hana, please wait." Akio called after her, but she refused to stop. Not even for her own mate, "Please, Hana, will you talk with me?"

"No!" she snapped and continued on, "And if you keep following me, I swear your head will meet my foot"

"Hana, stop." Akio grabbed her arm and spun her around. He ducked quickly when Hana's other hand, swung at him, "That would have been very bad if that had connected..."

"Akio, let go of me." Hana growled and glared at him.

"Please, Hana." Akio smiled sweetly and cupped her chin in his free hand, "Will you listen to me?"

"Fine." she released her grasp and leaned back against the wall, waiting for him to speak.

"I'm sorry." he began, "It's just, there is something going on with her that a few people here know, but for some reason won't say anything. Hikaru can't even get anything from viewing their minds."

"Maybe you should have more faith in her and believe that she'll tell us when she's ready." Hana kissed his lips quickly before darting off. He growled. She had avoided the subject quickly.

Selena swung open the heavy front door in one swift pull. Behind her Touya and Arata waited to follow her out into the warm afternoon sun. It was only going to be a quick run for her and Touya, but Arata had begged to go with them, stating strongly that he wanted to talk with her. Selena reluctantly agreed but warned him that she would hurt him if he got too personal with the talk.

"We're doing the stairs at least three times. If you can't handle it. I suggest you back out now." Selena stated her warning before taking off. Touya followed first and Arata whimpered before taking off after them.

She sprinted down the stairs one at a time at a very fast pace. She was more than half was down when Arata finally reached them.

"She's nuts!" Touya called up. He was only part way down the steps, "Best not to hesitate or she'll make you run up and down them many more times. She's the reason Jin won't go jogging with us!"

"It's not my fault Jin is slow on his feet!" Selena yelled up from the bottom, "Hurry Up, guys!"

"She's evil." Arata muttered as he started his first descent down the temple steps.

They waited at the top at the end of the third set while Arata did his best to catch up. Once he reached the top, Selena gave him a quick pat on the back before taking off again. Arata groaned and started after them. He wasn't giving up. He hadn't gotten to talk to her yet and he was determined to.

She waited alone on the temple porch, having sent Touya off so she could talk in private with Arata when he arrived.

"You're not as slow as you used to be, but you're still slow." she teased him as he made it to the porch and crumpled in a heap on the wooden floor, "Are you alright?"

"Fine." he tried to catch his breath. It wasn't easy. She sat next to him and ran her fingers through his damp, sweat soaked hair.

"You need to learn to breath better." she said softly, "You would be in better shape right now."

"You...dammit." Arata pulled himself up. Selena chuckled.

"Me, what?"

"You stopped calling me."

"Things came up and I was busy." Selena turned her face away to hide the guilt she felt, "I'm sorry I stopped. Things just got hectic."

"Every time I called you, your father said you were training."

"I was. I was training myself and teaching others. I didn't have any time for other things."

"Why can't you just tell me the truth? You can't hide the pain I see in your eyes, Selena." Arata grabbed her chin and forced her to look over at him, "What really happened to make you become this cold and withdrawn?"

She slapped his hand away abruptly and jumped to her feet. She glared at him with tears flooding her eyes. She said nothing, turned her back on him and retreated into the temple.

Guilt and sadness racked his mind as he watched Selena flee into the temple. He wanted nothing more than to comfort her as a friend. He hated seeing the pain in her eyes at least some of her feelings instead of hiding them.

"Arata?" Gina approached him slowly, "Arata, are you alright?"

"Oh, Gina...I didn't hear you approach." he looked at her briefly and let his eyes fall to the ground, "I'm just concerned for Selena. She's just really, really sad and I feel so helpless. I wish I could do something to help her."

"But you are, Arata. You're going to fight alongside her." Gina knelt next to him and took his hand into hers, "You're going to help her rescue her family. I'm sure once they're safe, she'll be happy again."

"You're right, Gina. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Arata." she kissed his cheek gently before rising to her feet and heading inside.

Lunch and dinner rolled around and both Hikaru's and Selena's presences were missing. Arata was quick to take the blame for Selena, being forced to explain what had occurred between the two that afternoon. Gina smiled and stood up for him when some of the others started to throw their usual insults at him, effectively silencing them. The rest of the evening was very quiet, but Arata couldn't shake the guilt he felt. He needed to apologize and make things better.

He found her sitting silently on the roof with Jin and Touya. The trio was relaxing together, gazing at the endless sea of stars above them. Jin was the first to fully acknowledge his presence and gave him a grin and a wave before nudging Selena. She lifted her head from Touya's shoulder and looked back.

"Hey, Arata." she said softly before putting her head back on Touya's shoulder, "You can join us if you'd like."

"I don't want to be a bother." he answered gently.

"You won't be. I like your company."

"Selena..."

"Don't worry about it, Arata. Everything will work out. I'm sure of it."

He sat quietly behind them, enjoying the silence of the night and the brilliance of the stars above. Selena wasn't mad at him and Gina's words were true. He was helping her. He was helping her regain the most important pieces of her life. Her happiness.


	7. Hikaru fell in love?

It was time

She sat quietly on the smooth wooden floor in the middle of the large training room. She could feel the warm rays of the early morning sun on her back as she kept her eyes closed and focused. She had started the day by meditating, doing her best to dispel some of the anxiety that had built up as they neared the start of the tournament. She knew she was going to have to remain calm for the day and avoid any unnecessary fights, a task that would be quite difficult while in the presence of Hikaru. But she was determined to rest her body and save her strength before they set sail the next morning. All participants of the tournament were due there tomorrow afternoon. Their ship would leave exactly at sunrise and Koenma had promised them a portal to the docks to make the travel easier. The kind gesture was well appreciated.

She took a deep, calming breath and let it out slowly. She let her aura reach outwards, feeling the energy from the few plants in the room before extending them out. Touya's energy came first and she wasn't surprised to feel his energy drawing closer. The ice demon often accompanied her before breakfast. The next set of energies her aura brushed against were her Father's and Gina's. They were settled in the kitchen and were soon joined by a weaker life energy she assumed was Iziaoi's. She felt her Father's aura brush slightly against her own before she pressed out farther. She was pushing her limits now. She had yet to been able to push past the kitchen walls with her energy, but it had never stopped her from trying anyways. She pressed on with her determination and felt the familiar energies of Hikaru and Akio. There was a sharp poke to her aura that made her withdraw completely, knocking her onto her back and making her head slap against the wooden floor.

"Whoa, are you alright?" Touya knelt above her.

"Breath and relax." Selena muttered to herself. Keeping her eyes closed she let out a small breath, "Don't let him get to you."

"Selena?"

"Even when we're not in the same room he pisses me off." she lazily opened one eye to look up at her best friend. His face was etched with concern and she gave a him a reassuring grin, "It's alright, Touya. He just took me off guard."

"You shouldn't try so hard sometimes. You should stick to your limits. You need your energy." he helped her to sit up and she groaned while rubbing the back of her head. An impressive lump was already beginning to form on the surface. She jumped when a very cold hand pressed against said lump and Touya laughed.

"It's not funny." she pouted and he kissed her forehead tenderly.

"Actually, it is." he grinned and she narrowed her eyes in annoyance, "You'll be fine. It's not a serious injury."

"Tell that to my brain. I think it got knocked loose." she swatted his hand away and rose to her feet, "Is it time for breakfast already? Or do you want to meditate with me?"

"How about doing some handstands on the roof? We haven't done that in awhile."

"Yeah, sure. Let's get Jin to accompany us. Even if he doesn't participate, at least he'll make me laugh."

They snagged Jin from the hallway and stopped by the kitchen to let her mother know where they would be should they be needed for something. As they were heading out the front door, they passed Hikaru and Akio. Hikaru smirked as Selena eyed him, but she shrugged it off and grabbed Touya's hand, pulling him along with her. Touya understood the gesture. If he hadn't have been there at that moment, she may have tried to kick the smaller demon's ass.

She didn't see the look that crossed Hikaru's face as she took Touya's hand into her own, but Akio had. There was jealousy within the fiery orbs of his friend and a good dose of anger as well. The tension between Selena and Hikaru was escalating and all Akio could do was try his best to keep the hybrid calm. What ever it was that she was keeping from them, it was frustrating Hikaru to his very core.

"Hikaru?" Akio turned to ask him a question, but Hikaru shrugged him off and stalked off down the hallway. Akio sighed and decided it was probably best for him to find something else to do while Hikaru went off to brood. His thoughts drifted to his mate, and with a gentle smile he went off to find her.

He grumbled to himself as he turned over in his bed. All he had wanted to do that morning was sleep in. He had no real reason to be awake other than to eat and perhaps take a shower at some point, but it seemed his friends had decided otherwise. Their excited banter outside his bedroom window had awoken him only a few minutes before and now he was curious what had excited them to that noise level. He could even hear Akio's laughter mixed in with the noise. So, Hojo decided it would be best to get up and check the situation out for himself.

After throwing on jeans and a white t-shirt, he made his way outside and around to the side of the temple where everyone else was. Everyone, but Hikaru, it seemed.

"What are we looking at?" Hojo rubbed the remaining sleep from his eyes as he stepped next to Iziaoi.

Arata was muttering in disbelief under his breath. Jin and Hana were giggling, while Akio and Iziaoi looked up at what ever had caught their attention. Hojo turned his attention in the same direction.

No wonder Arata was in disbelief! There was Selena on the edge of the roof, standing still and straight...on her hands. Her body was perfectly aligned, her feet arched so her toes pointed to the sky above. Not too far behind her was Touya, his body held in the exact same position as hers.

"Good morning, Hojo. You're up early today. I thought for sure you'd sleep the day away." Iziaoi finally looked over at him.

"How long have they been up there?" he asked, snaking his arm around her waist and pulling her closer.

"Almost two hours now. Jin was with them for the first hour, but he gave up." Iziaoi answered and snuggled against his warmer body, "They're really incredible, ne? She so strong. I could never do something like that."

"It's something that requires a lot of strength and concentration." Akio joined them, "Undoubtedly Miss Selena has been trained diligently for things such as this."

"I see everyone is here but Hikaru. Where'd he wander off to?" Hojo glanced at Akio as the fox let out what seemed like the millionth sigh that day, "Hey, man...what's going on?"

"He went out earlier. Gina said she questioned him and he said he needed to leave for a bit, but would be back later. Things are stressful for him I think."

"I can understand that. It's been five years since they were last together and now she hardly acknowledges him. Must be difficult to have the woman you fell in love with hate you. Not to mention what ever that secret is that she's hiding from him and us."

"Are you serious? Hikaru was in love with Selena?" Iziaoi questioned them. When they both nodded she re-stated her question. "Seriously? Hikaru fell in love? I just can't see that happening. He always seems so distant and unemotional."

"Yes, well, even Hikaru has some emotions, Iziaoi. He's just better at hiding them than most." Akio frowned, "But, he's definitely being affected by seeing her again. My only worry is that he'll provoke her. He tried this morning, but she blew him off."

"Yeah, I see your point. The last thing we need is for him to beat the pulp out of her like the last time." Hojo replied.

"You're a fool if you think it would be anything like last time, Hojo." Selena stated loudly. They looked up at her and found her sitting on the edge of the roof with Touya standing behind her, "Then again, what would you know? You've never actually beaten me."

"That's only because I knew you didn't stand a chance against me." Hojo smirked up at her, "I am a lot stronger than Hikaru, you know."

"Feh, yeah right." she leapt down to stand before him, "You may be strong, Jr. Urameshi, but you're also dumb."

"What was that!" he exploded angrily and it was her turn to smirk. He released Iziaoi and stepped forward, standing toe to toe with the shorter girl, "Take that back, Selena."

"I can't take back the truth, Hojo." she crossed her arms over her chest and glared up at him, "You'll just have to try and prove me wrong."

"Are you challenging me?"

"I wouldn't be myself if I didn't."

"Now that sounds more like you, Selena. I accept your challenge!" Hojo cracked his knuckles, "I'm gonna kick your ass, little girl!"

"Words like that don't provoke me, dimwit." Selena sighed and stretched her arms out.

"That's not very original, ya know. The old lady has called me that for many years now."

"I know and it suits you perfectly." Selena grinned, "No spirit energy, just hand to hand, ready?"

"You bet."

Hojo threw the first punch and she dodged it easily by slipping to the side and blocking as his other fist came at her. He dodged her kicks and punches next and then managed to connect a good, solid punch to her shoulder. She stumbled back and landed on her rear with a thud. He didn't waste any time going after her. She rolled backwards to avoid his kick and pushed herself up onto her arms. She winced when she felt the strain in her tired arms but waited for his approach. Hojo was attempting to kick her in her exposed back when she spun on her hands, catching him off guard and kicking him backwards.

They continued their serious sparring for several long minutes. They exchanged a good amount of solid kicks and punches, but Selena was running out of energy and her arms were killing her.

Her eyes caught on a figure standing off to the side in the trees and she scowled. With a renewed sense of anger and frustration, she threw everything she had left in her at Hojo. It caught him off guard again, but he managed to grab both of her arms, trip her and pin her to the ground.

"Looks like I win." he said loud enough for everyone to hear, "Concede defeat, Selena and I'll let you go."

"You win, Hojo." she chuckled softly. He released her and she rolled onto her back. He smiled down at her and she burst out laughing.

"That was a good match. Thanks for the challenge." he stood and helped her to her feet, "What do you think?"

"I hadn't planned on fighting today, but it was a good match. Thanks, I guess I needed it. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going in to take a shower and get something to eat." she smiled at him and the others, but as she turned away, the smile vanished from her face and was replaced with a frown. The only one who saw the change was Hikaru.

Touya jumped down and whispered to Izaioi "Come meet me tonight at midnight and I will tell you the story of the odd couple. She nodded

After her long and hot shower, Selena joined the others in the dining room. She took her usual seat near her mother and began to pick through her lunch. She wasn't very hungry, but knew she needed to eat. She ignored the conversation around her and put her thoughts all on the demon named Ranku. She knew very little about his fighting style and that worried her. It was going to be up to her to defeat him. He wouldn't accept the challenge from anyone else.

Undoubtedly, Ranku would be difficult to fight. After all, snakes were tricky and she was sure snake demons were no different. His particular clan was linked to cobras, which meant his bite would be deadly if he managed to sink his fangs into her flesh. But, he wasn't likely to do something that could kill her. It would ruin his intent of taking her as his mate. Still, it was something she'd have to share with the others when the time came. She'd make sure her teammates were informed of what little she did know about Ranku.

She stared down at her plate and blinked a few times. Apparently she had been hungrier than she thought because her plate was now empty.

"Please excuse me." she said softly and rose to her feet, "I am heading back to the training room to practice. I'll be there if anybody needs me."

Selena departed from them, not catching the confused glances they sent each other.

"She just completely dismissed my question." Hojo snapped, annoyed at being ignored.

"She didn't answer it because she didn't hear you. Her mind was elsewhere. She does that from time to time." Touya answered, "Judging from the look on her face at the time, she was plotting. Probably worrying over how to fight Ranku."

"Is he that bad?" Iziaoi asked, worry evident in her voice.

"I don't know. I've never seen him fight." Touya replied, "Selena knows more about him, but she doesn't like to talk about him. I'm sure she'll fill us in before we leave though."

Iziaoi contemplated his words for a few moments before standing. She smiled down at Hojo when he tried to grab her arm.

"What is it, Hojo?"

"Nothing. Never mind. Enjoy your girl talk." he grinned up at her and let her leave, "Sometimes I wish she'd mind her own business."

Selena turned slightly towards the doorway when she heard the light footsteps echoing just out in the hall. Iziaoi appeared a moment later and Selena offered the girl a small smile before re-focusing her attention on the katana in her hand. She walked through a brief series of graceful steps, holding the blade in different angles and positions. Once she was done with that, her routine picked up in pace and she smirked at the small gasp Iziaoi had emitted. Selena wouldn't hide it, she'd put on a good show for the girl. She had always loved having people watch her when she was back home.

Iziaoi sat there and watched the girl put everything into what she was doing and she had to admit to herself, the only other person she knew that could handle a katana was Hikaru and she wasn't sure if he could even compare to what she was witnessing at that moment. She wondered to herself if he knew she was this good with a katana. She clapped quietly when Selena finished and wiped the back of her hand over her sweat soaked brow. Selena grinned and bowed to her.

"I feel like I have gained a fan." she giggled softly before sitting down. Iziaoi scooted over closer to her.

"You have. That was amazing! Every time I watch you, I'm in awe of your skill!" Iziaoi gushed and then nodded her head rapidly, "If I could do that, I would be able to keep Hojo in his place when he's being a jerk!"

That statement made Selena laugh harder than she had in a long time. She knew it. She was becoming attached to Hojo's girlfriend. The girl had such a fiery spirit and she sort of reminded her of herself. She stopped laughing when Akio and Hikaru entered the room and Iziaoi gave an unamused snort. She jumped to her feet quickly and offered her hand to Selena, who grasped it slowly and rose to her feet.

"We're sorry to interrupt." Akio said gently and offered a sincere smile, one that Iziaoi rolled her eyes at.

"Right." Iziaoi scoffed and tugged on Selena's hand, "Please excuse us."

Selena smirked as Iziaoi pulled her past the two demons and out the door of the training room. Her other wrist was seized and she felt herself forcefully pulled from Iziaoi's grasp. The young girl lost her balance and fell over onto the floor and Selena turned to the one holding her, slapping his face hard. She glared into the emerald eyes of the fox before turning and helping Iziaoi to her feet.

"Go away and leave me the hell alone!" Selena hissed angrily at the demons, "I don't want to see either of you until I have to tomorrow."

She stalked off down the hallway. Iziaoi gave each of the demons a pissed off glare and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Couldn't you have been at least a little patient? Apparently you didn't notice, but I actually made her laugh and something tells me we would have had a nice talk and just perhaps she would've opened up to me. You know, me? The one she doesn't have a past with?" Iziaoi growled and turned away from them, following in the same direction as Selena, "You guys are such assholes."

Hikaru and Akio stood there silently for a few moments before Hikaru turned and walked away from his friend. Akio sighed softly and rubbed his sore, red cheek. He hadn't meant to be rough with her. He'd have to apologize to her in the morning before they left. He couldn't have any animosity between him and her...they had enough already between her and Hikaru.


	8. Memories

Izaioi did as she was instructed, she met with touya, but others from the team who remembered it came and listened as well, They helped fill in the holes that were foggy to Touya.

_It was relaxing afternoon. The weather was calm and delightful. Breezes danced around the five people walking up the steps to a temple of a psychic known as Genkai. Leading the way was the Jr. Spirit Detective Hojo Urameshi, a regular pupil of the psychic herself. Next to him walked Arata, a tall ugly ape of man with whom Hojo often used as a punching bag. Behind them were Akio, Hana and the ever moody Hikaru. He was still sulking at having to follow Hojo and the others for training he felt he could do himself. Of course, Koenma had threatened to shorten Hikaru's roaming area of the city or worse, imprisonment if he didn't tag along._

_Hana skipped up ahead of them and stopped before Hojo and Arata. Both men looking at her like she was a weird alien. She laughed playfully._

_"She's in a good mood." Arata frowned. Hojo grunted and continued his ascent of the many steps still before them. He ignored Hana and her perky disposition, leaving Lady Death quite aggravated. After a "Hmpf!" Hana followed along quietly again. She knew what the group was in for, but now she would just simply forget that she knew anything._

_Breathing a sigh of relief as he reached the top step, Hojo stretched a bit and turned to the others. They stopped to listen as he opened his mouth to speak, and as he did, a startling roar screeched in the clearing before them._

_"That was not human." Akio commented before chasing after the others to where the noise had been heard. There eyes were surprised to find a short and slender woman fighting against six demons that were much larger than she was. Two demons already lay slaughtered on the ground behind her._

_Hojo chuckled a bit, watching who he thought was just another kid who lost their family living with the old woman. Although her tactics confused the young spirit detective a bit. It looked as she had made daggers out of green spirit energy. Shrugging he sat back on the ground and watched the fight continue._

_She concentrated on the largest one first. A monstrous and hideous demon that stood at least eight feet tall with blue scaly skin and claws as long as a butcher knife blade. He was no challenge for the woman as she chucked one of her spirit energy daggers into its throat and then sliced its head off with the other._

_Akio glanced at Hikaru when he heard him give a short laugh at the violent display of aggression. Hikaru shrugged his friend's glance off and watched what he deemed to be a most intriguing match._

_Two new daggers had formed in her tiny, thin hands. A smirk playfully danced onto her delicate rosy lips. A shorter, green demon with horns held her arms back and she extended the dagger's length to pierce through the sides of the demon's skin. Flicking a black curl from her face, she gracefully dodged an attack from another demon. She hadn't seen him coming, but she could sense his advance and she flipped quickly out of the demon's path. The daggers flew again, bursting into bright balls of energy and capturing its victim in a torturous and agonizing death. Again a laugh escaped Hikaru's lips._

_After disposing of the remaining demons, the young woman rose to her feet and dusted herself off. She turned her attention to the group that had stopped to watch. She narrowed her eyes at the group and her focus rested on Hojo when he chuckled._

_"What the hell are you looking at?" she yelled to the group._

_"We were watching your technique, little baby girl. You seem a bit rusty!" Hojo replied with a grin. The young woman was not amused._

_"Little baby girl? Who the hell are you calling little baby girl?" she shrieked angrily. Her blues eyes sparkled with fury, "Come say that to my face jackass!"_

_"Alright, half pint, I've been needing to stretch my muscles after that long climb up the stairs." Hojo stretched his arms over his head and cracked his neck._

_"Half pint!! You bastard!!" the girl prepared herself for the fight._

_"Um...Hojo?" Akio touched the spirit detective's shoulder._

_"It's alright, Akio. I can handle this." He smirked confidently. Akio stepped back and Hikaru joined him._

_"He has no idea, does he?" Hikaru spoke coldly. Once again Hojo was heading into a battle with someone he knew nothing about, "Hn, it serves him right."_

_"I don't know who you are, little boy, but you are going to pay for insulting me!" the girl yelled._

_"Whoa, little baby girl, did you forget you memory pills today or something?" Hojo stood before her. He was still oblivious to the actual truth._

_"Don't call me little baby girl fucking jerk!" she screamed and was before Hojo in an instant, her fist connecting to the right side of his face. His body was thrown back like a rag doll, slamming into trees before coming to a stop near the top of the steps._

_"How long has this been going on?" Genkai stepped next to Hana._

_"Just a few moments. Hojo thinks he's fighting Kagome." Hana smiled, "He's finding out who she is the hard way."_

_Hojo was already back on his feet and dodging more fearsome attacks from the lively black haired woman. His fist connected with her chin in a sharp uppercut. Her small body flew backward and she flipped out of it to land safely on her feet._

_"Urameshi don't hit her! She's a girl!" Arata yelled, remembering his honor code when it came to fighting ladies. Hojo's attention shifted to the loud mouthed monkey boy and a realization hit him when Genkai shook her head disapprovingly. He had dropped his guard and the girl sent him flying with one solid kick to his abdomen. He landed ten feet back from where he had been standing._

_"That's enough, Selena." Genkai replied with a devious smile, "I think the dimwit has had enough."_

_"He's lucky you are here because I was this close to beating the shit out of him!" she motioned the closeness with her thumb and index finger. There was barely a centimeter between them._

_"Okay, somebody please explain to me what the hell is going on here?" Hojo rose, his arm clenching the tenderized area of his stomach._

_"You idiot! I could have killed you!" Selena yelled. She turned from the group and headed into the temple, "I'm going to take a bath, Master Genkai! I'll be done in an hour! Stupid demons, my fucking hands are covered in their putrid blood!"_

_Selena disappeared into the large temple. Hojo turned to face his teacher. His face held confusion and a bit of laughter escaped him._

_"Did she just call you Master Genkai?" he asked. Genkai narrowed her eyes on the boy and he swallowed hard._

_"Yes, numbskull, she did just call me Master Genkai. Its nice to get some respect every once in a while" Genkai turned to Hana, "I assume you didn't tell them?"_

_"After the silent treatment they gave me on the way up here, I guess it just sort of slipped my mind. Oops!" Hana covered her mouth to suppress a giggle._

_"You knew about this, Hana?" Hojo was full of anger. Genkai slapped his face, "What was that for, Genkai?"_

_"Selena was right! She's just like her father. You are lucky she didn't kill you!" Genkai turned and stormed off, stopping only once to motion for them to follow._

_"And her father is…."_

_"Hiei"_

_"Why didn't you tell us he had a daughter?" Hojo asked, rubbing his cheek and walking alongside his mentor, "How old is she?"_

_"I didn't tell you because it wasn't your business and she's seventeen." Genkai snapped, "You'll each have your own room while you're here. I suggest you take tonight to relax. Tomorrow all five of you will begin excessive training and I don't tolerate slackers!"_

_"Um...five of us?" Hana asked meekly._

_"Not you, Hana. Selena will be training with the boys." Genkai replied, "And lose your honor code about hitting girls, Arata. You will be facing off against Selena at times and she won't take the match lightly."_

_"What? I'm gonna have to hit her?" Arata was shocked._

_"Don't be a sniveling crybaby!" Genkai yelled, "I won't tolerate that either."_

_"Then this shall prove to be a most interesting visit, Genkai." Akio smiled politely and followed the others inside._


	9. Cannonballs and Perverts

**REMEMBER THIS IS STILL WHAT HAPPENED 5 YEARS PRIOR**

_Dinner was filled with the usual chatter and witty banter between Hojo and Arata. Selena and Genkai sat opposite from each other. Hikaru took in the observation of just how much Selena resembled her mother, with the exception of her eyes. Genkai's being a pale pink, Selena's were a vibrant shade of blue. Hikaru hadn't seen blue eyes as bright as hers. Selena's gaze fell upon his and she scowled._

"_Keep it up, demon and I'll poke that extra eye of yours right out!" she spoke coarsely. Hikaru averted his eyes and stared at the wall. How did she know of the Jagan eye?_

"_Selena, will you be studying this evening?" Genkai questioned Hiei's offspring, taking a big sip of tea before looking up to meet her eyes._

"_Yes, after dinner." Selena replied, "Hana said she would assist me."_

"_Good." Genkai nodded._

"_Studying?" Hojo raised an eyebrow, "It's summer vacation. Why would you need to study?"_

"_What I do with my free time is none of your concern, idiot." Selena rose from her seat. She brushed a stray pink curl from her face, "Besides, you'll see soon enough."_

_Hojo stood to confront her, but she was already leaving the room and Genkai was giving him evil glares for him to take his seat._

"_It would be wise of you Hojo to clear your mind for tomorrow's training. I'm very sure that Selena sees you as a challenge." She stated and sipped her tea again._

"_That's fine with me. I like a challenge." Hojo sat._

"_If you don't mind me, I'm off to help Selena!" Hana said with a giggle. Hikaru rolled his eyes at her perkiness._

"_Genkai, how does Selena know of Hikaru's Jagan eye?" Akio spoke just after Hana left, "Has she seen us fight before?"_

"_You could say that." Genki rose, "I think all of you should go to bed soon."_

_Hikaru wandered down the long temple hallways towards the room that would be his for the time being. He hated being there, but now at least he had something to entertain him. Selena's power had been suppressed during the fight with the demons. He could tell when she focused more energy in the few attacks on Hojo. The girl had her secrets and he wanted to know them._

_The sound of someone typing on a keyboard brought Hikaru back from his thoughts. He stopped by the room the sound came from. The door was open a few inches and Hikaru glanced in. Sitting at a computer, Selena was typing at a high speed. She stopped briefly and pushed the play button on the VCR. Scenes from the Jr. dark tournament played out before her and to Hikaru's eyes. Selena was watching the match between Bui and Hikaru. She paused the tape right before Hikaru let loose the dragon of the darkness flame. She studied the expression in Hikaru's eyes before typing something on her computer._

_Hikaru watched her with even more curiosity than before. She was studying him, learning everything she could from a very important match he had put his life on the line for. She pushed play again and sat back, a small smirk crossing her lips as she watched the dragon tear across the stadium. The tape got blurry and she pushed stop with an angry sigh._

"_Stupid demon." She mumbled and tossed the tape onto a shelf, "It's because of him that I can't watch Hojo at his best. That's okay, I'll draw his best out on my own. Isn't that right demon?"_

_Her eyes met with Hikaru's. He stepped in from the dark hallway and faced her. Her face was cold and angry. He made sure that his matched._

"_What do you hope to learn from that tape?" he asked, knowing that she hadn't seen the whole match._

"_What's the matter? Not used to seeing yourself fight?" Selena stood. Hikaru averted his eyes. He hadn't noticed her sleeping attire of a purple tank top and matching underwear. She laughed at him and he refocused his eyes on hers, "You shouldn't be snooping around here. You are only a guest."_

"_I wasn't snooping foolish girl." Hikaru snapped angrily._

"_Get out of my room, stupid demon." Selena stepped before him and glared up into his dark eyes, "This is my room and you're not welcomed."_

_She went to shove him hard and he dodged, slipping silently to one side. She sighed quietly. She knew this one would be a handful._

"_Hn, stupid girl, you never answered my question." Hikaru glared at her._

"_I don't ever remember anyone telling me I had to answer your question you fucking jackass." Selena turned. She was going to change her tactics, "I am going to bed. If you're staying then close the door. If not, then leave."_

_She climbed slowly into her bed and glanced back. Hikaru was gone. She smiled to herself. It worked every time._

"_You're up early." Hana smiled as she met Selena in the hallway. It was barely after sunrise and Selena was dressed in a skimpy black bikini and a pale blue wrap around skirt, "Are you going swimming?"_

"_I do every chance I get. You should join me." Selena replied, "You do have a bathing suit, right?"_

"_Yeah, but I didn't think I'd actually need it." Hana giggled._

"_Hurry up and change. I'll wait for you here." Selena leaned against the wall and watched Hana hurry to her room. A few moments later she returned dressed in a light pink bikini and a towel wrapped around her waist._

_The pond was nestled in the back of the temple. It's crystal clear water made Hana sigh with amazement. The place was beautiful. With no word said, Selena dashed past the bubbly blue haired girl and dove into the frigid water. Coming up for air, Selena motioned for Hana to join her. When Hana refused, Selena laughed evilly before splashing._

"_Selena!" Hana shrieked, "You jerk!"_

"_Now you have two choices, Hana! One, you can come in on your own. Or two, I will throw you in myself!" Selena yelled._

"_That's not fair, Selena!"_

"_Sure it is!"_

_The yelling woke Hikaru from a somewhat peaceful slumber. He heard laughing and splashing. He grumbled as he rolled himself out of bed and stumbled to the window. Looking down he noticed Hana being chucked into the pond by a much shorter Selena. His eyes grew wide for each girl wore the most revealing outfit her had ever seen on a human female. Selena stretched her arms over her head before diving into the water again._

"_She certainly doesn't have a body like Genkai." Hikaru sighed and jumped onto the windowsill to watch the two girls swim around._

"_So, what do you think?" Selena splashed Hana again._

"_You come out here every morning?" Hana asked, "This place is so serene and quiet. I don't think anything could disrupt this peacefulness."_

_That was until a loud yell of "CANNONBALL!!"l was heard and Hojo and Arata were diving right in. The girls shielded their eyes from the splashing water. Both of them cursing under their breaths about the two of them being idiots._

"_Fucking bastards!" Selena yelled, "Next time warn us before you do that!"_

"_I thought the yell of cannonball would be enough of a warning." Hojo smirked playfully._

"_I don't get it, why are you two up this early?" Selena asked, "I thought you idiots would sleep through most of the day."_

"_We would have if he didn't wake us up." Arata said and pointed behind Selena. Akio sat quietly on the large boulder at the edge of the pond. He had on blue shorts and a white t-shirt._

"_Didn't know you were there, fox. That's quite sneaky of you." Selena swam over to the rock and climbed out. Hojo and Arata gasped. She looked back at them and glared, "What the hell is your problem?"_

"_You are not Hiei's daughter!" Hojo exclaimed in disbelief, "No, there is no way that you can be related to her!"_

"_You keep telling yourself that moron." Selena rolled her eyes and sat next to Akio, "You guys seem to be missing someone. Where's shorty?"_

"_You know you shouldn't make fun of his height. You are shorter than him." Hojo said pointedly, "Besides he'd probably beat you up. He wouldn't care if you were a girl or not. Then again, any of us could probably beat you."_

"_I accept the challenge." Selena stood and wrapped her pale blue skirt around her waist and tied a loose knot, "All the three of you stand on this rock with me."_

"_All three of us?" Akio looked up at her. She nodded and he sighed, "Alright then."_

"_Come on you two. Hana you might want to back off a bit. This could get messy." Selena smirked and allowed Hojo and Arata to climb up onto the rock, "I challenge you three to push me off this rock and into the water."_

"_Are you serious?" Hojo stared at her in disbelief, "That's not a challenge."_

"_Oh, but it is. You'll see." Selena smiled like a devil. Her first target was Arata. The damn oaf would be the easiest to get into the water. She leaned forward and pretended to slip, falling into Arata. Her barely covered breasts made contact with his exposed stomach. He jumped back, just like she knew he would, and fell into the water. Leaning back a bit she pretended to catch her balance by leaning against Akio. Using his body as a strong point, she lifted off of him, kicking Hojo hard in the face. He stumbled a bit and Selena was there to trip him and shove him hard in the water. She turned and faced the last opponent._

"_Kick her ass, Akio!" Hojo yelled, slicking his wet hair back and away from his face which was now red with anger._

"_Well, well, fox." She cooed, "Dare to try?"_

"_You use your womanly charm to help you succeed. Some people might get the wrong impression of you." Akio smiled politely, "But, yes, I do dare to try."_

"_Very well then." She smirked again and then threw the first punch at his stomach. He blocked it and grabbed her wrist, twisting her arm around her back. He pushed her forward toward the water. Hojo and Arata cheered. Selena smiled again. She caught her balance enough to manage a high back flip, landing quietly behind her challenger. Arata gasped in shock and Hojo grumbled. There was no way she would go in that easily. A thorny vine caught her waist and she looked back to Akio. He gave an apologetic smile and pulled her forward, the thorns cutting into her flesh as he did. She winced from the pain, and prepared for the fall into the water._

"_I'm sorry if I'm hurting you." Akio whispered sweetly._

"_Don't be." Selena replied and he shoved her into the water, only to feel himself falling as well. They splashed into the water at the same time. Akio came up for air first and Selena followed. He looked at her with confusion. He had no idea how he got pulled in. She reached for his wrist and pulled the fabric off and held it up. It was the skirt she had been wearing through the fight. He had never noticed how it got there._

"_May I ask how you did that?" he inquired. He really was surprised._

"_I guess you're not the only one who is sneaky, fox." She smirked again, "It's my little secret. Maybe someday I'll show you."_

_Selena turned away from the group. A small figure caught her attention from above. She glanced up, meeting Hikaru's eyes. Akio joined her side and looked up as well._

"_He's been up there the whole time." He spoke quietly, "I suppose he's studying your movements."_

"_My movements?" Selena looked up at Hikaru again, "You fucking pervert!"_

_Hikaru shook his head and jumped down from the window and out of sight. Akio gave a nervous laugh._

"_I didn't mean those movements." He explained, "I meant your fighting movements. He knows nothing of your technique."_

"_Then he should have come down and joined us." Selena frowned, and turned to Akio, "Thank you, fox. I look forward to having a real fight with you next time."_

"_You keep calling me that. How come?" Akio questioned her as he followed her out of the water. It had been the fourth time she called him fox._

"_That is what you are, right?" Selena asked, "I guess it's just another of my little secrets, fox. Breakfast will probably be served soon. We should head in to eat before my mother puts us to work."_

"_Very well." Akio watched her walk away. Hojo, Arata and Hana joined him shortly after._

"_That cannot be Hiei's daughter." Hojo was watching Selena walk away, "Who knew that Hiei could produce such an offspring?"_

"_Pig." Hana spat and walked away._

"_Who knew Hana looked so good in so little?" Arata shrugged._

"_Yeah, who knew?" Hojo agreed._

"_I can hear you, ya know!" Hana turned and screamed before storming inside._

"_Women, who knew they could be so evil?" Arata spoke as they started into the temple._

"_What are you complaining about? One of those evil women practically threw herself at you." Hojo chuckled, "She sure knows how to use what she's got."_

"_I think there's more to her than we know of. She's certainly not the innocent type. I think it would be wise to not take her so lightly." Akio walked inside, leaving the other two to stop and ponder his comment._

_Top of Form_


	10. I cant control what she does

_**NOTE: THIS IS STILL TOUYA AND THE GANG TELLING TO STORY, NOTE, SELENA AND HIKARU ARE NOT PRESENT. ON WITH THE FIC!!!**_

_Hojo glared at the two girls sitting on the grass off to the side. Hana had a notebook and Selena a sketch pad. He grumbled to himself. He wouldn't get to challenge Selena and take revenge for their past two encounters. The girls giggled and he shot them and angry glare. They smiled at him and waved._

"_Stupid girls! Quit staring!" he yelled in frustration. It only made the girls giggle harder._

_Genkai arrived with Akio and Hikaru a short moment later. She motioned for Selena to approach her. Selena set her sketch pad down and walked over._

"_Your pick." Genkai said quietly. Selena smirked and glanced at the four fighters standing there._

"_Well, Master Genkai, if you insist." She pointed to Akio, "How about Fox and Arata. I have a feeling this fight will end quickly, but Arata needs the training."_

"_You two go sit over there with them." Genkai pointed to the sidelines._

"_What's going on here, grandma? Why is Selena not fighting today?" Hojo asked in annoyance._

"_Are you challenging me?" Selena turned and stepped before him, "Are you still mad that I kicked your ugly face this morning?"_

"_That's right stupid girl!" he glared down hard into her face. Her bright blue eyes swelled with tears and she pouted, "Oh, what are you gonna cry now? I'm sorry, Selena I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."_

_His eyes softened and she smiled sweetly, exactly what she wanted him to do. She punched him hard in the stomach, making him fall over backwards._

"_Silly, Hojo. You are so easily deceived." Selena took her place next to Hana and picked her sketch pad back up._

"_Get up, Hojo." Hikaru kicked the spirit detective. He rolled his eyes as Hojo stumbled to his feet. They joined the girls on the side._

"_You two listen to me." Genkai stepped in between Akio and Arata, "There is no going overboard. I can't bring anyone back from the dead. I suggest you stick to hand to hand combat."_

_Arata charged first, running in like a madman. Selena rolled her eyes at his pathetic display. He had no defense and Akio easily dodged the simple attack. He staggered a bit and caught his balance only to be punched in his head by Akio. The tall boy fell backwards. Akio was at his side, kicking him in the ribcage. Selena stood and approached them._

"_Hang on a minute." She shook her head and shoved Akio back, "Stand up, Arata."_

"_Selena, what are you doing?" Arata strained, holding his sore ribs._

"_This is wrong." She replied, "He's coming with me. Fox, you can fight one of the other two. We'll be inside."_

"_Genkai, can she do that?" Akio asked as Selena forced Arata back into the temple._

"_She does what she wants." Genkai sighed and watched as well, "I can't control what she does. I don't have the right to."_

"_Genkai?" Akio's voice was gentle. She shook her head._

"_Hikaru, why don't you fight Akio?" Genkai stated, "Hana, continue writing for Selena."_

_Inside, Selena shoved Arata into a training room. He looked at her as she removed her purple shirt and cracked her knuckles. He backed away protesting._

"_Oh, no. I'm not fighting you, Selena." He replied, "I don't fight girls."_

"_You fucking moron. We're not fighting. I'm teaching." She snapped, "Your style is horrendous. You flail your arms too much and you lack any possible defense. You may have survived through the dark tournament, but it was on sheer luck and stupidity."_

"_Hey, that's not true!"_

"_What the hell was that out there then? You know Fox is stronger and faster than you! Yet you still blindly charged at him!" she fixed her pink hair into a tight bun on her head, "I've been training since I was three. I think it is time to show you how to defend yourself from someone like Fox."_

"_Wow, did Genkai train you for all those years?"_

"_Yeah, right! That old hag!" Selena scoffed, "This is the first time I've met her in person."_

"_I don't get it."_

"_I don't suppose you would." Selena stepped next to him, "Are you ready? I'm not gonna go slowly. You'll have to keep up with what I teach you."_

"_I'll do my best." Arata nodded._

"_Hikaru, you are distracted." Akio dodged his friend's attack, "What is bothering you?"_

"_Quit talking and fight, Fox." He snapped. Akio raised an eyebrow._

"_You and Selena both call me that."_

"_Yeah, so what?"_

"_I don't understand why she does."_

"_She's been studying tapes from the dark tournament. She probably saw you as Your brother's older form."_

"_That would certainly explain a lot." Akio dodged another attack, "But that doesn't explain your problem."_

"_I don't have a problem." Hikaru punched Akio's face and jumped back before Akio could counterattack. Akio steadied himself for another attack by Hikaru._

"_That's enough." Genkai's voice called out, "You two should rest awhile. Well, dimwit, it seems that I'll have to be your opponent today."_

"_Don't make yourself have a heart attack old lady." Hojo stood and stretched._

"_I won't."_

"_No, no, like this, Arata." Selena showed him the proper stance and he sighed as he remembered, "This should do for today. It's so hot out. We should go swimming again."_

"_Shouldn't we see what the others are doing?" Arata asked. Selena shrugged then pointed to the window._

"_You should be able to watch them from over there."_

_Walking to the window, Arata leaned out to watch the fight. His eyes opened wide with the excitement of the situation._

"_Hojo's fighting with Master Genkai!" he yelled back. Selena rushed to the window and looked out._

"_What?" she stared in amazement at how fast the two fighters were. She laughed as Hojo ducked out of the way of Genkai's kick only to be punched instead, "I wish I had my sketch pad."_

"_Do you always draw?" Arata looked over to her as she jumped onto the windowsill._

"_If I get the chance to. It was one of my many studies I had as a child." Selena sighed, "I like to use many of my talents in my studies. I'm so flexible because of my training as a fighter and as a dancer."_

"_A dancer, huh? What type of dancer?"_

"_Not the type perverted boys like you like to think about." She retorted and laughed when he frowned, "Sorry about that, Arata. Sometimes, guys just piss me off."_

"_I'm sorry if I did." Arata shifted his attention back to the fight, "Who do you think will win."_

"_Hojo has my Master Genkai's technique now. It's likely he'll be the victor if this were a real fight, however, this is just a small challenge. My Master Genkai will use her wits, something Hojo obviously doesn't have much of."_

"_Urameshi is a pretty tough fighter. I should know he uses my face as a punching bag."_

"_Arata, what can you tell me about Hikaru? He is so much different than the rest of you." Selena eyed Hikaru off on the sidelines. It was her first time seeing him without a shirt on._

"_Shorty has a bad attitude. I wouldn't get on his bad side. I'm sure he'd beat up innocent kitties if they looked at him the wrong way."_

"_But is he really strong?"_

"_Yeah, he's strong and fast."_

_Selena looked down again and her eyes met with Hikaru's. She shook her head. That one was definitely a mystery. He snapped his head to the side breaking the stare._

"_Fuck you, Hikaru!" Selena screamed down at him. His eyes came back to find hers and they were like fiery daggers. This made her smile, "What's your problem shorty? Cat got your tongue?"_

"_Selena, are you trying to get yourself killed?" Arata stepped away from the window, "Hey, I thought we were going swimming?"_

"_Okay, Arata." She broke from Hikaru's glare and jumped down from the window, "Let's go then."_

"_It seems like Selena's trying to provoke you." Akio laughed gently. Hikaru stood and started walking away. He needed time to think._

"_Where's he going?" Hojo approached him, holding the right side of his face where he had been punched._

"_He's frustrated, Hojo. He finds Selena to be a challenge and he can't help but want to fight her." Akio nodded as Genkai and Hana joined them, "He's trying really hard not to just attack her."_

"_How cute! They find each other to be a rival!" Hana clapped her hands together._

"_How is that?" Hojo looked confused and Hana giggled._

"_Well, Selena is looking forward to certain battles. Especially the one with Hikaru. Hikaru, on the other hand, wants to find out where her strengths and weaknesses are. He knows nothing about her."_

"_I hope he doesn't assume that she is anything like me. He'll be in for a big surprise when she reveals her true style." Genkai bowed her head and walked away._

"_You guys should go take showers! You stink!" Hana laughed and ran after Genkai._

_Hikaru heard the sound of splashing water and Selena's laughter. Glancing around the corner he found Selena and Arata sitting on the rock and splashing their feet in the water. He snuck closer and listened to their conversation._

"_So, tell me about Gina." Selena spoke. Hikaru's eyes widened, "Is she nice?"_

"_Yeah, she's really sweet." Arata smiled with a dreamy look in his eyes. Hikaru was ready to slice his head off with his katana, "She's polite and gentle and caring."_

"_And you love her?" Selena asked as she rose to her feet on the rock._

"_I have loved her since I first laid my eyes on her." He answered, "What about you? Do you love someone?"_

"_I used to, but we're only friends now." She dove into the water and came up for air, "Maybe you know him. He was in the dark tournament. I believe he was the Fox's opponent."_

"_He must have lost if he faced Akio. Akio didn't lose too many matches." Arata said smugly, "Hey, who is he?"_

"_That doesn't matter now." Selena replied. Hikaru eyed her suspiciously. She climbed back onto the rock, "Tell me more about Hojo's girlfriend. What was her name again?"_

"_Oh, Izaioi. She's pretty tough for a girl."_

"_Are you saying girls can't be tough?"_

"_Oh, no, that's not what I meant!" he jumped to his feet, "I didn't mean it like that! It's just that Izaioi isn't a fighter like you and she spends most of her time studying and stuff!"_

"_Calm down, Arata." Selena giggled. Hikaru rolled his eyes, "Let's have a diving contest. You can dive right?"_

"_Yeah, I can dive."_

"_Good, the first one to the other side of the pond wins."_

"_Wins what?"_

"_I'll take that into consideration if you win." Selena nodded, "Ready?"_

_A few seconds after she said go, Selena found herself being shoved from behind and falling head first into the water. Arata dived and swam with all of his might to the other side. Selena glared back at the rock and the person standing on it._

"_I'm sorry. Did I make you fall?" Hikaru said with a smirk. The furious look on her face was priceless and he was happy he had stooped so low to see her like this. She pulled herself onto the rock and confronted him._

"_You could have hurt me you know!" she glared up into his crimson eyes._

"_That was my intention." He retorted still holding his smirk. Selena sighed and stretched her arms over her head. Reaching for her loose, wet pink hair she twisted and squeezed the water out. Her eyes never left Hikaru's. Finally she broke the gaze and turned to Arata._

"_Hey, Arata, I have a great idea to compensate you for your win! I'm gonna go talk to my Master Genkai about it now." She turned and stopped next to Hikaru, "I'm sure he'd be quite happy and a much stronger fighter if your sister were here."_

_She left Hikaru staring at her back as she walked into the temple wrapping a towel around her waist as she went._


	11. I souldnt even be here you idiot

**THIS IS STILL 5 YEARS PRIOR**

**INCASE YOU FORGOT WHO REPRESTS WHO:**

**HIKARU: HIEI**

**AKIO: KURAMA (AKIO IS KURAMA'S LITTLE BROTHER)**

**HOJO: YUSUKE.(IZAIOI IS HIS GIRLFRIEND)**

**ARATA: KUWABARA**

**GINA: GINA (AND LIKE HIKARU, GINA IS HIKARU'S SISTER)**

**HANA: BOTON.**

**KAYKO: (SELENA HAS NEVER MET HER YET) IZAIOI**

_Hikaru stormed into the temple after Selena. There was no way that he was going to allow her to bring Gina here. That baboon didn't deserve to see his sister. She was not a prize to be won in some dumb little diving contest. Selena would pay dearly if she made that mistake._

_He searched with his Jagan eye and found her with Hana and Genkai. He raced to where they were. Selena was being helped onto the ferry woman's oar. She had already managed to get dressed and prepare to leave. They started to take off into the air and Hikaru hastily pulled Selena off and let her fall to the floor. Landing on her rear end, Selena grimaced as the pain shot through her back. She leaned forward onto her hands and knees and rubbed her sore butt. The sight Hikaru took in from his angle caused him a bit of discomfort and he turned away. Why did she have to wear a skirt?_

_"You jerk!" she was red with anger. She turned to Hikaru and slapped his face. This was not wise as she quickly found out when his katana was at her throat. Her eyes widened, but she remained silent._

_"I have no quarrel with killing you." His voice was low and monotone. He pressed the blade closer to her neck as she laughed. That was a response he wasn't prepared for. The sword drew a bit of blood and stained the blade._

_"If you wanted to fight with me, Hikaru, you could have just asked." She replied. He lowered his katana and gave her an annoyed glare. She put her fingers to her throat and wiped a bit of the blood away, "It's been awhile since I've seen my own blood."_

_"If you want to see more of it, then by all means, go and get Gina." He snapped. Selena only smiled._

_"What makes you think I was going to get Gina?" she put her hands on her hips and pouted. He hated her pout, "For your information, we were going to get someone else."_

_"I don't believe you."_

_"Nobody said you had to." She stepped closer._

_"Get out of my face, woman."_

_"What are you afraid of, shorty?"_

_"Hn."_

_"That was a great response. Surely you didn't think of that yourself, did you?"_

_"I am not in the mood for your childish antics, girl." He turned to leave._

_"Fine, then I'll just leave now to get Gina." He turned back angrily and grasped her shoulder hard._

_"Why do you feel it necessary to cross me?"_

_"Why not?"_

_"You are not amusing."_

_"Neither are you! What the hell if your problem anyway? Why the fuck did you throw me off that rock earlier?" her blue eyes burned with intense anger and frustration, "Never mind! You are not important to me, Hikaru!"_

_"Hn." He turned to leave, crossing his arms over his chest. Selena raced past him and ran from his view. He could smell her tears as she passed. He felt a tiny pang of guilt. He had never made a girl cry like that before. His guilt vanished quickly and he stalked away to his room._

_"That went awful." Hana frowned. She hadn't expected Selena to burst into tears because of Hikaru._

_"Go and retrieve Gina and...bring _HIM_ too." Genkai gave a small smile, "From what I've heard from her father, they are best friends. She'll be happy to see him. It has been five years and he doesn't come to this world often. Perhaps he and Gina are in the same area."_

_"That would be helpful!" Hana gave a cheery smile and flew off into the afternoon sky. With any luck they'd return before everyone was in bed._

_Selena sat sullenly at her computer. She was typing a mile a minute and thinking about too many things. Her Discman sat next to her and loud music blared into her ears. She never heard Hikaru stop at her door and look in, but she could sense him. She ignored him. There was no way she would let him make a fool out of her again._

_She finished typing and sat back in her comfy chair. She shook her head and sighed angrily. She ripped her headphones off and tossed them across the room._

_"Come in!" she yelled, before anyone knocked. Her door creaked open slowly and Akio poked his head in, "Hello, fox."_

_"You knew it was me?" he asked and smiled lightly when she rolled her eyes. She turned the computer off._

_"How can I help you, fox?" she stood up and straightened her skirt, "You usually don't pay me any visits."_

_"I was wondering if you would like to take a small walk with me. The afternoon breeze is nice and there are some flowers that I wanted to inspect. They are a bit unusual for this area." He smiled again. Selena stared at him for a few moments._

_"Yeah, sure." She grabbed her sketch pad off the shelf and turned back to him, "I need to work on some stuff out there anyways."_

_She followed him into the yard and down a darkened path leading into the forest behind the temple. He stopped before some abnormally large red flowers. Stepping back, she began drawing the flower and the unique pattern the almost pea green leaves had. She had seen the plant before, but couldn't remember where. She's check when she got back. If it was important, it was written somewhere._

_"That's strange." Akio's voice spoke and she looked up at him, "Normally the center part of the flower is yellow, not purple."_

_"It looks like a giant poinsettia to me, with the exception of the purple part." Selena shrugged, "But I know it's not one."_

_"Yes, I see what you mean." Akio stepped back and Selena sighed, "What is it?"_

_"Nothing." She finished drawing, "It's a good thing I have a good memory, or else I would've forgotten how the minimal light played off your red hair."_

_"I thought you were drawing the flower?"_

_"I was, but you fit into the picture nicely." She rose to her feet._

_"May I see it?" he asked nicely. She shook her head no._

_"Not until I'm ready to show you." She replied, "Besides, dinner should be ready soon. We should head back."_

_"Yes, I suppose we should." He agreed. He was a bit hungry anyway and he achieved his real purpose of getting her out of the temple. He snatched the sketchbook out of her hands, but before he even had a chance to open it…_

_. She grabbed her sketch book from Akio and hurried off, "Are you coming or not?"_

_"Yes." He ran after her and she laughed at his speed._

_"You are fast, fox!" she yelled. He was glad to see her happy._

_They ran into the temple together and stopped in the doorway. Selena gave him a challenging grin._

_"Do you want to make a bet?" she took a deep breath and let it out slowly._

_"Depends on what we're betting on." He listened intently._

_"If I win you have to take me to the library tomorrow." She stated._

_"And if I win, tomorrow you fight." Akio added, "Whomever I chose for you to fight."_

_"Fair enough. The first one to the dining hall wins. Easy enough, right?" she asked._

_"Yes, I believe it is fair."_

_"Ready? Go!"_

_They ran together through the long hallways. Akio had kept his pace with hers, but as they neared their destination, he gave an apologetic smile and dashed off. She laughed and smiled happily. She entered a few moments after him and everyone at the table stopped to watch them._

_"I guess I win." Akio panted. He extended his hand out to her, "Nice race though. We should do it again sometime."_

_"How about later?" she shook his hand._

_"What are you guys doing?" Hojo's voice brought them back from their laughter. They turned to face them, both of them blushing._

_"Hey, where's Hana?" Selena took her seat, "Did she go?"_

_"Yes." Genkai replied. Selena kept her eyes away from Hikaru's, but she could tell his was staring._

_"Where did Hana go?" Hojo asked, breaking the silence that was starting to creep him out._

_"No where!" Hana's voice drifted in from the doorway, "That was a great race you and Akio had!"_

_"Cut to the chase, lady! Why did you bring me to Genkai's temple? I have better things to do with my time than sit around here." A male voice spoke from behind Hana._

_"It can't be!" Selena stood up, "Who did you bring back, Hana?"_

_"Well..." she ushered Gina into the room first. She swallowed hard as Hikaru's eyes landed on her, "I brought Gina as asked."_

_"Gina!" Arata was on his feet and at her side in seconds._

_"Certainly Gina doesn't have a guy voice, Hana!" Selena scolded her._

_"That's true." Hana grinned evilly and pulled the other person into the room, "But he does."_

_"What the?" Hojo stood first._

_"Touya!" Selena called his name out and his eyes lit up as they fell upon her. He embraced her tightly, "I can't believe you are here! How can this be?"_

_"I am not sure myself why I am here, but that does not matter now. I haven't seen you in ages!" He held her close against him._

_Selena pulled back and led him out of the room. Hana watched, then turned to the others and shrugged._

_With Selena and Touya_

_"Have you gone to see your father yet?" Selena sat with her back against the tree. He sat next to her and held her hand._

_"No, not yet. I was going to go there tonight." He answered, "Selena, why are you here? I thought you never wanted to meet the real Master Genkai."_

_"It couldn't be helped, and father wanted me to come here desperately. I don't know why he was so eager, but something must be up." Selena admitted, "These guys aren't all too bad. Akio, Hana and Arata are nice. Hojo's a bit loud and Hikaru...well, Hikaru likes to get on my nerves, but other than that he's not too bad."_

_Touya chuckled a bit and released her hand. A small, devilish smirk crossed his lips._

_"Selena, you are blushing." He replied and laughed when she covered her face._

_"No, I am not!" she protested, "I have no reason to blush!"_

_"Anyway, why are you here?" he changed the subject back to his previous question. She sighed and closed her eyes. Racing with Akio had really worn her out._

_"More training I guess. I don't know. I just wish I had gotten a say in the matter." Selena answered, "I wasn't prepared to be thrust into the Great Genkai's presence. Kurama, he wasn't ready for me to leave yet either. I think he knew what was happening though. She didn't protest when my father told me I was coming here."_

_"If you wish to send them a message, I will gladly take it for you. I wonder how your father will feel when he hears that his only child has a crush on Hikaru."_

_"I do not have a crush on that jerk! He makes me so angry!" Selena yelled and quieted when Touya's hand touched her knee, "I don't like him like that."_

_"Don't pout, Selena. It's too cute when you do that." He stood, "Why don't we go write that letter? It'll be dark soon and I'm sure that you'll need your rest."_

_"Especially if Akio forces me to fight someone hard tomorrow. I doubt he'll pick Arata. That would be too easy."_

_"Don't underestimate Arata, Selena. His style may be rough, but he did beat Risho in the dark tournament, as well as a few other tough opponents."_

_"I know. I've seen the tapes. I watched your match with Akio several times. I can't believe how strong you were."_

_"Not strong enough to beat Akio though." He helped her to her feet and together they walked back inside._

_After writing the letter she said her goodbyes to Touya and asked him to return when he could. They still had much to catch up on. As she walked back towards her room she could hear Genkai talking with Hojo. Master Genkai was revealing quite a bit of information that Selena did not want revealed, how she had been abused, why she ran away, when she tried to drown herself._

_"So her dad's the great Hiei?" Hojo asked. Selena had heard enough. She had no right telling him any of this._

_"Why don't you just tell him everything? Tell him you trained me for no reason other than to pass of your stupid little spirit wave! I trained my whole life with my father and the three sensei's! I know my stuff, I don't need you in my life disrupting me!"_

_"Selena, calm down." Genkai replied calmly, fighting the urge to leave the room, "Let me explain!"_

_"Yeah, I'd like to know why I'm here! Why am I studying these guys?" Selena slumped to the floor._

_"You weren't trained for no reason. Yes, it was primarily to pass on the spirit wave, but also to assure that this temple had a teacher."_

_"So, what you're saying is that, boy I hope I get this right, Hiei is her father, but you wanted to train her to pass the wave and make sure this temple had a teacher, she wasn't even supposed to be born. But when she was…you took advantace of that, waiting until she was almost of age. Did I miss anything?" Hojo said calmly. The tension in the room had grown thicker and he was feeling the desire to flee._

_"No, you idiot!" Selena yelled. She was fighting back tears, "I shouldn't even be here!"_

_"You're here because..."_

_"Forget it! I'm going out! I need time away from this temple!" Selena yelled, interrupting Genkai. She stormed out of the room._

_"She's here because Hiei's in a mess and people are looking for her." Genkai said quietly, "Hojo, please get the others and follow her. Hiei warned me that she has a tendency to be destructive and I fear also that someone may see her. I'd hate to have Hiei worry."_

_"Okay, Genkai. We'll keep an eye on her." He nodded and hurried out to find the others._


	12. Cat and Mouse

STILL IN THE PAST

**HIKARU: HIEI**

**AKIO: KURAMA**

**HOJO: YUSUKE.(IZAIOI IS HIS GIRLFRIEND)**

**ARATA: KUWABARA**

**GINA: YUKINA (AND LIKE HIEI, GINA IS HIKARU'S SISTER)**

**HANA: BOTON.**

**KAYKO: (SELENA HAS NEVER MET HER YET) IZAIOI**

Selena raced in the dark down the long path that lead to the temple's steps. The air held a bit of uncertainty as she made it to the street below. She stopped and looked up the steps.

"So, that's how they want to play?" Selena smirked, "Alright, then it's time to play."

She ran up the street, covering her spirit energy as best as she could, and passed between two houses. Stopping briefly for a quick breath, she continued up a different street, dodging a few random pedestrians. She laughed as she sensed Akio's spirit energy. He was the closest to her. She ducked behind a tall bush and watched as he came into view. He stopped and looked around him. His eyes squinting in the darkness. Hojo stepped up next to him.

"She's close by." Akio spoke, "She's covering her spirit energy rather well."

"She probably doesn't want to be found. I don't blame her for wanting to alone, but she didn't let Genkai finish." Hojo responded.

Selena rolled her eyes at Hojo's comment. She smiled as they walked away.

"You go that way." Hojo pointed one way and then to the opposite direction, "I'm going this way. If she's in the area, we'll find her."

She waited a few minutes and cautiously stepped out from her hiding spot. She looked around a bit before running again. This time she ran back towards the temple. She laughed out loud as she realized how close she was to Arata. She snuck up on him. He was oblivious to her approach. She slapped the side of his head, laughed and ran into the forest by the temple's steps.

"Hey!" Arata yelled. He looked around and called out, "Where did you go, Selena?"

"Did you see her?" Akio and Hojo asked as they neared him.

"I didn't see anything. I heard her laugh and when I turned around she was gone." Arata rubbed the sore part of his recently smacked head, "She slaps pretty hard for a girl."

"It seems she's being a bit playful with us." Akio spoke softly, "She must know that we are following her."

"Stupid girl! It's getting late and I don't want to play hide and seek with you!" Hojo yelled. It was quiet for a few Genkaients, until a blue sphere of energy flew up from the trees nearby and crashed before them. It didn't hurt them, but it did send them stumbling backwards for several feet.

"At least we know where she is." Arata admitted and shrugged when Hojo gave him a cold, piercing glare.

In the forest

She sat against the tree and listened to the sounds around her. The forest was quiet until her three pursuers entered. Two of them walked heavily, the third she knew was Akio. As she silently rose to her feet she became aware of a fourth person in the forest. She smiled to herself at his closeness. He would find her, no doubt, but she had to prolong her fun just a little longer. She formed another small sphere of spirit energy and set it in the spot she had been sitting and she ran, continuing to hide her energy. The energy she left behind would draw anybody nearby to it while she slipped away to another area.

Sure enough, Akio and Hikara reached the sphere at the same time. Akio looked around and Hikara grunted. He didn't want to be out there looking for her. He had better things to be doing with his time. Hojo and Arata stepped up behind them.

"Where the fuck is she?" Hojo bellowed. Akio made a motion for him to be quiet. Off in the distance he could hear her laughing. This only made Hojo angrier, "Stupid girl! What the hell are you doing?"

She didn't answer and continued to remain stealthy as she slipped past the temple, waved to Hana and Gina and disappeared into the other part of the forest.

"It's best that we split up." Akio took off in one direction. Hojo and Arata went in different directions.

"Hn. What is she trying to prove?" Hikara cursed under his breath before starting off.

Selena scrambled up a small incline and dodged a small worm demon that had slinked across her path. The little red thing looked at her with his three neon green eyes.

"You remind me of Hikara." she snickered. The worm rose up a bit and turned to face her, "Oh, you think you're tough, eh?"

She formed only one spirit dagger and sliced through the worm youkai, leaving his corpse on the ground as evidence that she had passed be the area. She darted off again and came to a clearing with one tree at the center. She hurried up to it and jumped into the tree, settling herself on one of the branches. The full moon caught her attention. She hadn't realized how beautiful the night had become. With a soft sigh she leaned back and snuggled against the tree.

She could hear Hojo and Arata complaining. She laughed at them.

"I doubt they think this is funny." Hikara snapped. Selena glanced down to the bottom of the tree to find Hikara leaning against it's base.

"Oh, hi, shorty." she said casually and leaned back, "I guess you found me."

"Why are you playing this little game of yours?"

"What game?" she asked and stared down at him with innocent eyes and the pout he hated.

"You are nothing like your Master Genkai." he spat and turned his head away.

"You're right. I'm not." Selena jumped down from the tree and landed softly beside him. She gazed into his crimson eyes that glowed a bit with the moonlight, "I am more my father's child, than I am my Master Genkai's. I can prove it if you like?"

"You are no match for me. That was proven earlier."

"All you proved to me was that you are an arrogant little prick." she reached for her hair and tied it up into a high ponytail, "You have yet to prove to me that you can beat me."

"Are you challenging me?"

"I wouldn't be myself if I didn't." she smirked, "You and your katana against me and my spirit daggers. Don't worry I can handle a few cuts and bruises."

"Are you nuts?"

"Are you scared?" she retorted and Hikara narrowed his eyes in frustration, "Come on now, Hikara. You had no problem earlier drawing my blood with that katana. What difference would it make now if you did it again?"

"I can kill you." he said pointedly.

"And I can kill you as well."

"Hn. Fine, but don't say that I didn't warn you." he withdrew his katana with lightning fast speed.

"I consider myself warned." her hands clutched two spirit daggers. They gave each other hard glares and he approached first. He went from being in front of her to being behind her within a second. He pressed the blade of the katana against her throat in the exact same spot it had rested earlier. She laughed and he felt the end of her daggers against his sides. They were pressing just enough to draw a little blood. They both knew that with one thrust the two of them would die. They both pulled their weapons away slowly and he took a few steps back. She turned to face him, did a backflip and barely managed to dodge his katana. His moves were very fast. She concentrated as hard as she could and allowed herself to be slashed across her arm in order to grasp the wrist holding the weapon. She kneed him once in the gut and tightened her grasp on his wrist. He released the katana and swung his fist. She dodged and let go of him. She gave a challenging smirk and began her assault with her fists. He mumbled incoherently as he avoided them all. He could see the frustration building in her eyes. She was weakening and he would take advantage of it. Every punch and kick he blocked with little ease. She was tiring and he appeared behind her, grabbing both of her arms and pulling them behind her back. She struggled and did her best to get free of his hold and they both stumbled backwards, falling to the ground and rolling down part of the hill. As they came to a stop, Hikara was on top of her and Selena's hands had grasped his shoulders. He pulled back and glanced down at her. Her head was to the side and in the moonlight he could see the blush that had spread across her cheeks.

"Selena?" he said her name quietly.

"Hm?" she didn't look at him.

"Are you badly hurt?" he sounded sincere. She turned her head to face him. Her eyes met with his.

"No, I'm alright." she answered shyly. The blush hadn't left yet and Hikara began to feel uncomfortable. She turned her head away and stared into the forest. Her attention was grasped by the large red flower just barely in her view. She could see the center of it glowing purple.

"Selena?" Hikara said her name again. She looked back to him and his face was closer than before. She shook her head and waved to the three boys standing behind them. Hikara grunted again and leapt to his feet. He started to walk away.

"Please, Hikara, don't leave yet." she rose to her feet. Hikara stopped and faced them.

"Selena, your arm is bleeding." Akio approached her and she held her hand out to stop him.

"It's the least of our worries, Fox." she turned back to the flower, "That flower we looked at earlier, you remember the one I'm talking about, right?"

"Yes." Akio nodded. She pointed to the flower and he looked, "Another one? It is glowing."

"I remember now." she replied as she started walking towards the flower. The others followed. Akio walking next to Selena, waiting patiently for her explaination, "It is called Demon Eyes."

Akio thought for a few seconds before the realization sunk in. His head snapped and he looked at her.

"It's watching us!" he exclaimed. The others looked at him in shock.

"Yes, and I doubt my Master Genkai put them out here to watch the demons in the forest."

"Then that would mean that someone else put them here." Arata spoke up and she nodded. She turned to Hojo.

"What exactly did my Master Genkai mean to tell me?" she crossed her arms over her chest, "You know why I am here, don't you?"

"I don't know much." he stated, "All the old hag told me was that your father is in a mess and people are looking for you."

"Well, I think they found me." she retorted and formed a ball of energy in her hand. She tossed it at the flower and it exploded into nothing, "We should head back for the night. I am feeling a bit tired and dizzy. I feel like I've been running forever."

"We watched your fight with Hikara. It wasn't too bad." Hojo laughed. Selena gave a faint smile and slowly dropped to the ground.

"Woah, hey are you alright?" Hojo knelt next to her, "Huh, she's out cold. Poor thing. Hikara, you totally wore her out."

"She shouldn't have challenged me." he scooped her into his arms and carried her bridal style, "It's my fault she's out cold. I'll carry her back to the stupid temple."

"You two were pretty cozy there for a while, Hikara." Hojo smirked at the disgruntled look Hikara shot at him. Hikara turned and took off into the trees, leaving his friends behind him to wonder.

He felt very uncomfortable carrying her like this, especially since she was still wearing the same skirt from earlier in the day. The piece of fabric barely covered her thighs. He felt her adjust a bit and cuddle into his chest. Her arms had found their way around his neck where they held onto him securely. He frowned and blushed. Shaking his head he regained his senses. He landed gently at the door to the temple and carried her inside. Genkai met him in the hallway.

"Is she alright?" she asked and Selena opened her eyes.

"I'm fine." she replied quietly. Hikara looked down at her.

"How long have you been awake?" he asked and her blue eyes gazed sleepily into his crimson ones.

"A few Genkaients. I swear." she said innocently, "Please don't drop me."

"Hn." he set her down carefully and she removed her arms from his neck, "You should be careful next time and not fight something you know you cannot beat."

As he walked away she stuck her tongue out at him and then crossed her arms over her chest before turning to Genkai.

"We have a problem and you know what is going on." she began, "Tell me why my father is in a mess. Why are people looking for me? Are you aware that the forest around the temple has Demon Eyes?"

"Let's deal with one question at a time." Genkai motioned to the other room, "We will discuss everything as long as you promise not to run off again."

"Yeah, I promise." Selena sighed, "I'm sorry about that. Well, not completely sorry. I got to run and trick the boys into a game of cat and mouse. There were a few close calls, but in the end Hikara found me."

"I take it the laceration on you arm is from him?"

"I couldn't pass up the chance to challenge him. I am just happy he didn't use all of his energy against me. He was holding back, but he was still way better than myself."

"Please sit, Selena." Genkai motioned to the pillow on the ground next to the small table, "Hiei sent you here because of a demon that found out who exactly you are. Your father is strong, Selena, but he would've died protecting you. That is why you are here. That is why Hojo and the others are here."

"Some stupid demon knows that I am Hiei's daughter? Why don't they come to confront me?" Selena asked as she sat down, "I mean, I won't hesitate to fight him."

"He's stronger than Hikara. If you couldn't keep up with him, this one would kill you much faster." Genkai sat down as well, "That is not likely his reason to catch you though. He hates Hiei. They fought each other once, many years ago. Your father used his wit and was able to out smart the demon. It is possible he wishes to take you into his possession to draw your father and myself out."

"Is it possible for him to have others working with him?"

"Yes, I suppose it is possible. However, the Demon Eyes in the forest, they propose a problem. Whomever planted them there, was fast, strong and now knows that we are not here alone."

"I suggest that tomorrow we fill the boys in on what is really going on. It's not fair that they don't know the real purpose to their visit to the temple." Selena gave and angry grunt, "My father's former enemy wants revenge and wants to use me to draw my father out to fight him. Why won't my father just fight him? He beat him once, can't he do it again?"

"Hiei is much weaker than the demon now. He would not stand a chance even if he used his wits." Genkai replied and looked up to her daughter, "I promised him that we would protect you and perhaps we will be the ones to defeat his enemy."

"I am not suited to fight such a tough battle. Hikara is stronger than me. Akio is faster. Undoubtedly Hojo is way stronger than me. Hell, even Arata is probably stronger than me." Selena laid back onto the floor, "I had no idea that I was so weak."

"You are just like your father." Genkai chuckled and Selena gave her a confused glare.

"And how is that?"

"You both use your wits and your speed to win battles. How else would you have been able to pummel Hojo when they showed up? Or even trick the boys on the rock?" Genkai raised her eyebrow, "You used your brain and knew how to take two of them down before they even knew what happened. You also managed to get Akio into the water without him knowing how it happened."

"That works, I guess."

"Don't guess!" Genkai snapped, "Just know that you can use your brain to trick others around you. How long did it take for them to find you? You left here well over an hour ago."

"I get it." Selena sat up, "You don't have to bite my head off. I have to go bandage my arm now. I'm afraid my blood is staining your floor and I'm feeling a little queasy. Goodnight, Genkai."

"Goodnight, Selena."

She exited the room and was met by Hikara. He gave her a hard glare. She continued walking, ignoring him and he followed. She knew he would. She stopped in front of her bedroom door and turned to confront him.

"I'll tell you tomorrow, Hikara." she stated. He didn't say anything, "Earth to shorty! I said..."

He pushed her abruptly to the door. She stared into his crimson eyes, confused by his sudden need to be close to her. She tried to slide to the side, but he kept her in place by grasping her arms. She growled at the pain from her wound and she gave him and evil, furious stare. He chuckled a bit, which she found to be a tiny bit odd that he had any type of laugh. She could feel her blood dripping down her arm, gathering at her fingers and pooling on the floor below.

"Selena?" his voice was husky and she gave a nervous giggle. He was not acting like the Hikara she expected him to be. He was supposed to be mean and rude an snide. This was not Hikara!

"My arm is bleeding all over the place. I need to take care of it now." she pushed him back as best as she could and he let her go, "Look, if there is something you wish to discuss with me, we can always talk in my room, but I need to do something about this gash before I lose all of my blood."

"Hn." his cold harsh manner had returned. He walked away, leaving her to be curious at just what the hell he was going to do.


	13. Your arm is bleeding again

**Still telling the story**

_Breakfast was unusually quiet as both Selena and Hikaru had not arrived to eat that morning. The others kept their questions to themselves, but they were all certainly curious. They knew that Selena would normally go for an early morning swim, but they had awakened to a fierce thunderstorm and it was unlikely that the girl was crazy enough to swim through that._

_It didn't look like any of them would be doing anything outside for the time being and Genkai took this as the right time to tell them the truth. She cleared her throat and everyone at the table glanced her way._

"_Listen, there is something all of you need to know about Selena." She began, "The real reason you are here is to protect her."_

"_Protect her from what?" Akio asked and the others nodded._

"_His name is Naizen Arishima. He is a very powerful demon who desires to have Selena in his possession. He wants to draw Hiei out to fight him, as well as myself. The best way for him to do that is to have her."_

"_I have heard of this Naizen Arishima in Makai. He is notorious for the countless slaughters he has committed on both humans and demons." Akio replied thoughtfully._

"_Why is he going after a guy named Hiei?" Arata, as always, was slow to catch on._

"_Hiei is her father. Many years ago, before she was born, Hiei was able to defeat Naizen. He didn't kill him, but warned him to never appear before him again. Naizen is stronger now and looking for revenge. There is no way that Hiei can defeat him." Genkai answered slightly annoyed by Arata's stupidity._

"_Does Selena know this?" Hojo asked while doing his best to not punch Arata in his head._

"_Yes. I managed to get her to sit still long enough last night for me to tell her."_

"_Huh?" Selena slowly dragged herself into the room. Her face was pale and she was breathing heavily, "Did I miss breakfast?"_

"_Your arm is bleeding again." Genkai pointed and Selena grumbled something about stupid short guys and sharp swords. Hana giggled from the comment and jumped to assist Selena._

"_Come here." She pulled Selena to the wall and together they sat. Hana placed her hand above the wound and a bit of energy shot out and healed the damage completely._

"_If I had known you could do that I would've asked you to last night." Selena leaned against the wall, "Dammit! I'm so tired today!"_

"_It is probably from your fight with Hikaru." Akio had joined them. He knelt before the two girls, "You would do best if you were to lie down for the day. Your skin is very pale. You must have lost a lot of blood during your sleep."_

"_Yeah." Selena rose to her feet, "I agree, Fox, but I want breakfast first. I'm starving."_

"_Come join us. Grandma was just filling us in on some current events." Hojo waved to her and she frowned, "What is it?"_

"_You fucking idiot." Selena mumbled before taking her seat. It was then that she realized Hikaru was absent from the room. She was glad. She wasn't ready to face him after everything that had happened between them. Not that it was much, but it did leave her wondering what would have happened last night if she didn't insist on taking care of her injury. Hikaru had not been acting normal. With a small sigh she ate the now cold breakfast that was set in front of her._

"_Well, it looks our day has been ruined by this awful weather!" Hana glanced out the window, "I guess training will be inside today?"_

"_Yes." Genkai and Selena answered in unison. They looked at each other briefly and Genkai shook her head with a laugh._

"_I guess you guys are more alike than we thought." Hojo mumbled and shoved the last of his breakfast into his mouth._

"_Since you're done, dimwit, you might as well go stretch in the training room. I am not going to take it easy on you." Genkai sipped her tea. Selena finished the last of her cold, lumpy oatmeal. She dragged herself to her feet and yawned._

"_I'm going to go lay down again." She said wearily, "I'll go by the training room later when I feel better."_

"_Okay, just get some rest for now."_

_The storm had subsided by mid-morning and had turned into a dreary, cloudy day with a few random downpours here and there. Hikaru still hadn't made an appearance and by lunch time everyone pretty much assumed he wasn't going to be seen._

_Selena rolled out of her bed, feeling a little less light headed than earlier and decided on a quick swim while the others trained. She changed into a sky blue bikini and the same wrap-around skirt she had worn before. At the entrance of the temple she observed the surrounding carefully. She didn't see any of the flowers near the pond, but she could feel that Hikaru was somewhere close by. She ignored it, knowing it was best to pretend that she was all alone._

_She knelt down next to the pond and ran her fingers through the cool water of the pond. With a content sigh she rose back to her feet. This was when she caught a glimpse of Hikaru out of the corner of her eye. He was perched high in a tree just inside of the forest._

_Selena smirked and ran her hands through her damp hair. She slowly pulled the purple ribbon that held her hair up and let her long pink curls fall against her back. She reached for the knot holding the skirt around her body, untied it and let the delicate silk fabric drop to the ground. She climbed onto the same rock as before and gave a quick glance behind her. Of course she knew Hikaru was still in the tree, but she could never be too sure. She had witnessed his speed the night before. She dove into the still water and swam to the surface. She smoothed the hair away from her eyes and leaned back against the rock. She closed her eyes. Images of happier times with her father flooded her mind._

_Somewhere during the memories, Selena drifted off into a peaceful slumber. It wasn't until several minutes later that she was jarred awake by the sudden drop in the water's temperature. She sat up quickly and turned her head to the side as a light laughter filled her ears. She scoffed at the man sitting next to the pond, his fingers dancing playfully on the water's surface._

"_Are you trying to make me sick?" she said curtly. Touya smirked._

"_You looked too peaceful. I had to wake you." He grinned and motioned for her to come closer, "I brought a letter from your father. He says that it's important and you need to read it right away."_

"_That important, huh?" she took the letter from his hand._

"_Do you always dress like this in front of Hikaru?" Touya's question caught her off guard and she sent him a warning glare, "Calm down. I'm joking."_

"_Is he still up in the tree?" she asked quietly while opening the letter._

"_Yup."_

"_Fucking weirdo." She mumbled, "Is he serious? What does he mean the guy is in the city?"_

_Selena jumped out of the water and held the paper up to Touya. He read the writing and smiled._

"_It's nothing to worry about. You're safe here, aren't you?"_

"_My father wants me to spy on the guy? Is he fucking crazy? I thought I was the one the guy wanted and that this was the reason I got sent here?"_

"_He wants all of you to go, not just you. He asked me to go too and to make sure you're identity is concealed. He is trying to find a way to bring Naizen down for good, Selena. He needs our help to do so."_

"_I have to talk to Master Genkai. She needs to know about this." Selena turned and was abruptly halted as she slammed into a solid chest. Looking up, her eyes met Hikaru's and she blushed._

"_What are you doing?" he asked coldly. She scowled and pushed him to the side._

"_I'm going to talk to my Master Genkai if you don't mind." She walked off with Touya and Hikaru following behind her._

_She slammed the door to the training room open, startling all of the people inside. The boys averted their eyes from staring at her mostly bare body and Selena handed the letter to Genkai._

"_What the hell is he thinking?" Genkai said angrily after reading the letter._

"_That's what I want to know!" Selena crossed her arms over her chest. The cold breeze in the room was giving her goose bumps._

"_He just wants us to spy on Naizen and his men. They were last seen at a club in the city." Touya replied, "He sent some supplies with me to help with the mission."_

"_He's crazy." Selena shook her head, "One minute he wants me safe and protected, the next he wants me to spy on the guy who wants to kidnap me! I want to know just what the hell he is thinking. Has he gone mad?"_

"_Your father has not gone mad, Selena." Touya chuckled, "He knows that with me and the others, you will be kept safe no matter where you are. Besides, Naizen won't recognize you with your disguise. I doubt anybody will recognize you."_

"_I don't know about this."_

"_I don't understand you." Hikaru spat, "Usually you're ready for any challenge. Why is this challenge any different?"_

_Selena shot him the meanest, angriest glare she could muster. Turning to Touya she ignored Hikaru's comment and looked up to her best friend._

"_Tell me, do you promise I'll be unrecognizable?" she asked silently, "This guy is supposed to be strong. Really, really strong. I don't want to put anybody in danger. I mean, this guy is so strong that he's even stronger than Hikaru."_

_She had to add that last part. Hikaru growled furiously with her insult. He grabbed her arm and twisted her to face him._

"_How do you know he is stronger?" his crimson eyes blazed with fury and she gave a soft, innocent smile._

"_Why does it concern you?"_

"_Hn. You couldn't just answer me could you?"_

"_Why would I want to do that?"_

"_Stupid girl."_

_Selena bit her bottom lip and turned her head away. She was trying really hard to not slap him. She had learned from the last time that he wasn't one to take a slap so lightly._

"_I know he's stronger than you because Master Genkai said he was." She turned to face him again, "You don't have to be so mean all the time, you know! You're colder then Touya and he's an ice demon!"_

"_Hn."_

"_That's what I thought." She sighed, "Come on, Touya. Let's see what you've got for a disguise for me. I swear if it's something revealing I'm going to kick your ass."_

"_Um...It's certainly not more revealing than the bikini you're wearing!" he said defensively. She slapped his arm and walked from the room. He followed along._

"_So, what do we do now, grandma?" Hojo joined Genkai's side. Akio, Arata and Hana stepped closer too._

"_This is very risky." Genkai began, "Hiei must be up to something if he wants her to do this. I guess we have no choice but to follow along with his plan."_


	14. They used to be in love

**Still walking down memory lane**

_"Is this a fucking joke?" Selena looked at herself in the mirror. Touya laughed and she gave him an angry stare._

_"It's a mere coincidence! I swear!" he defended himself, "I didn't know what he sent along!"_

_She stared angrily at herself. The black wig, the blood red contacts, yeah, like she was going to believe that it was just a coincidence. She didn't mind the black dress or even the black cloak to go with it, but the wig and contacts were just too much._

_"I don't want the others to see me like this." she frowned, "They'll notice how similar I look to Hikaru and I don't want that."_

_"Very well. We can sneak out before them." Touya smiled warmly._

_"Is that what you are wearing?" she motioned to the light blue button-up shirt and white pants. He looked really handsome and she blushed very slightly._

_"Yeah, is it okay? I've never gone to a club setting before."_

_"You look fine." she turned away and slipped the cloak over her head, hiding her features from anyone's view, "We should go."_

_Hojo watched as Arata fussed over his hair. With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, he threw the nearest object he could find at his friend. The said object being a book and it made contact with the side of Arata's head._

_"Owww! Urameshi, what was that for?" he rubbed the spot the book had made contact with._

_"Your acting like a girl, Kuwawbara." Hojo answered, "Are you ready yet?"_

_"She's sneaking out." Akio smiled as Touya and a cloaked Selena slipped by the room._

_"Hey!" Hojo ran out the door. Touya stopped._

_"Just know this, you will call her Moon." Touya said and hurried Selena out the door. Hojo shrugged with confusion and turned back to the others._

_"We should get going then." Akio stated, "I will find Hikaru and Hana. You two wait by the front door."_

_Akio walked away. His travel towards Hikaru's room was interrupted by Hana running by being chased by Gina. The girls were giggling loudly and Akio watched them. Hana stopped, her blue dress swaying to a stop just shortly after._

_"Come on, Hana! You have to let me go!" Gina caught up to her._

_"No way! It's too dangerous!" Hana smiled gently, "It's best for you to stay here."_

_"She's right, Gina." Akio spoke and both girls jumped. They hadn't seen him there, "This is a mission. It will be too dangerous for you to be there."_

_"I know." Gina said sadly, "But I bet it would be fun to dress up and go to a club."_

_"Maybe some other day." Hana touched the top of Gina's head, "When it's not so dangerous."_

_Gina nodded and smiled. She waved before walking away. Hana smiled at Akio and pointed down the hallway._

_"I take it Hikaru is in his room still?" he asked and she nodded._

_Akio walked on, stoppined briefly outside of Hikaru's room and knocked quietly. No sound came from the room. Akio opened the door. Hikaru sat on the windowsill, looking out into the gray clouds. He was already dressed in his normal black pants, black cloak and white scarf. He focused his eyes on Akio, but did not turn his head._

_"What is it, Fox?" he snapped moodily._

_"Are you ready to go?" Akio leaned against the wall and watched as Hikaru jumped down from his sitting place._

_"Hn." Hikaru started for the door, "I don't know why we are doing this. I think it's stupid."_

_"We were asked to help, Hikaru. You don't have to go if you don't want to. I'm sure me and the other guys will be able to protect Selena should she need it. Touya will as well."_

_Hikaru walked past him, arms crossed over his chest and head held high in a defiant pose. Akio kept his chuckle to himself and followed along. They met their teammates at the front door. Genkai and Gina wished them well before shooing them off._

_Touya and Selena entered through the thick metal double doors that led them into the nightclub known as Fever. Selena glanced around the surroundings, taking in just how many demons were there. There was a lot. Touya touched her shoulder and motioned for her to take her cloak off. She lowered the hood first and pouted at her friend. A few grumbles of approval came from a few demons standing near the door. Their beady little eyes fixed on Selena's features. She smirked and slowly removed the cloak from her shoulders. Their jaws dropped. Touya took her hand and led her away from the gawking demons only to have her pulled away by a pair of squealing human girls._

_"You are absolutely perfect!" the taller of the two giggled._

_"Can you dance?" the second asked._

_"Do you have a name?" the tall one cut in._

_"Calm down." Selena put her hand up, "My name is Moon and yes, I can dance. Why?"_

_"We were looking for a fourth person to entertain the crowd!" the second spoke and pointed to another girl at the bar, "That's Hiromi, I'm Suzume and this is Natsumi."_

_"What do you mean, entertain the crowd?" Selena questioned them._

_"We dance for them. Behind a barrier, of course. The guys here can be a bit agressive." the girl named Natsumi replied, "We don't strip or anything like that. We just dance and give a little enjoyment to them."_

_"It sounds like it would be fun, Moon." Touya took her cloak, "You should go for it."_

_"But..." she faced him._

_"It's a good idea, Moon." he gave her an assured smile. She caught his eyes briefly and nodded. The girls giggled and pulled her away._

_"You owe me!" Selena yelled back and he waved. He took a seat at a table while she disappeared into a room._

_It was twenty minutes later when Hojo and the others arrived at the nightclub. They looked around and found Touya sitting alone. Hana signaled to the boys that she would check out the situation with the ice master while the others took a seat. She moved slowly, side stepping the demons trying like crazy to grope her.They certainly were a lively bunch. She slipped Touya a sweet smile and sat next to him. He nodded, took her hand into his and leaned in close enough to whisper into her ear._

_"She is out back with a couple of human girls. She's been there for almost half an hour." he pulled back and kissed her cheek. She faked a shy smile._

_"Is that wise?" she sounded almost seductive. He gave her a nod._

_"You will see what I mean momentarily." he smiled again. She rose from her seat, made a motion that she was heading back towards the door and left to find Hojo._

_Hojo, Arata and Akio had taken a table not too close to the stage. Hikaru had stayed back in the shadows watching everything around them. Hana passed him and he grasped her arm, making her stop._

_"Where is she?"_

_"Moon is in the bathroom." she replied and gave a quick wink. He studied her for a few moments before releasing her. She was lying, he could tell._

_"I don't want to ask again."_

_The lights dimmed, a glowing blue barrier shielded the stage. A quick beat picked up before the crowded club went nuts. The boys followed the rest closer to the barrier and waited to see what the commotion was all about. Four girls, varying in height and dressed in very little clothing, walked provocatively onto the stage. Each girl's face concealed by a black mask that wrapped around their eyes, giving them just enough room to see everyone around them. The beat stopped and the girls each stepped onto a different part of the stage. Selena chose a part closest to Touya. If something were to happen and the barrier were to fall, he would be there in an instant. She looked down at him with a nervous smile. He caught her eyes and then shifted his attention to Hojo. She allowed her eyes to follow his movement and she saw Hojo and Arata not far off to the right. A little further away was Akio and in the back was Hana and Hikaru. She remembered their locations._

_"Their costumes don't leave much to the imagination." Hojo said to Arata and quieted as the music began. The crowd grew louder and more aggressive. They pushed their way closer to the barrier only to get zapped._

_The girls each moved their own way to the fast techno sounding music and it was very obvious that one of them was slightly a better dancer than the others. She was giving the males in front of her quite a show and it only caused more chaos when others fought to get closer to watch. They were hypnotized by the way her black hair flowed as she moved. Her hands grazed against areas the guys were undoubtedly dreaming about uncovering._

_Inside she was laughing at their stupidity. She had made eye contact with a few of them, and teased them as she playfully bit her bottom lip. Her actions were causing a riot. As she moved, she giggled as she made eye contact with Hojo. His cheeks reddened, but he didn't look away. She kept the stare for a few moments and then broke it away to find someone else to torture._

_The music stopped and the girls turned to face each other. Selena looked at them cautiously._

_"It's time to pick." Natsumi laughed, "There are quite a few cuties out there tonight."_

_"I'm taking the cutie that came with Moon. Is that alright, Moon?" Suzume smiled._

_"I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Selena smirked. It would be great revenge._

_"What about you, Moon? Anybody caught your interest?" Hiromi asked, eyeing over the crowd._

_"Hmm...there's a cute red-head over there." Selena made a little pointing motion towards Akio, "He looks shy though."_

_"Then break him of that habit."_

_"Fine I will."_

_They turned and faced the crowd. They were still hooting and hollering at them which made Selena laugh. Suzume made the first move. She walked to the barrier and motioned for Touya to step forward. When he approached, Suzume touched the barrier ever so slightly, weakening it long enough for Touya to step in. The guys on the outside booed, angry that he was chosen and not them. Hiromi and Natsumi followed and each chose two different guys. They smiled at Selena and motioned for her to do the same. She nodded and walked to the area Akio was standing. She met his eyes as she motioned for him to come closer. He studied her briefly before stepping forward. She did the same as the other girls and Akio was able to step through. He blushed as she took his hand into hers and dragged him back to the others._

_The music was slower this time, but not too much slower. Each girl pulled the guy they chose close and danced for them or with them. Selena ran her hand through Akio's hair and down his face. He caught her hand and she looked at him. She was glad the shoes she was wearing made her much taller._

_"I must warn you, I am not a good dancer." he smiled polietly._

_"Somehow I don't believe you, Fox." she purred and pulled him closer. He gasped in recognition of the name she had called him. She moved her body against his and he responded slowly by putting his hands on her hips._

_"What are you doing?" he asked her, bringing his lips close to her ear. He followed the movemnt of her body and did his best to keep up._

_"It wasn't my idea." she answered innocently, "Take it up with my date."_

_"This was Touya's idea?" he asked quietly. She was keeping her cheek touching his. Her left hand cupped the back of his head, keeping him in place._

_"Yes." she whispered, "I noticed that you're all here. I see Hikaru has chosen the shadows."_

_"He's not happy being here." Akio chuckled._

_"I supose this is not his type of setting." she continued to move with Akio, "Oddly, I feel right at home."_

_Hojo watched the situation with a smile. Akio dancing and being friendly with the girl before him was an unusual sight for the spirit detective._

_"Hey, Arishima's not coming tonight." a voice behind Hojo spoke. He listened._

_"Shut your trap." another hissed, "It's obvious there's new people around."_

_"What should we do?"_

_"We'll give him a call later. We'll let him know that there's a few minor details to update."_

_"We should disappear for now."_

_Hojo glanced back and there was no one there. Shrugging he made his way towards Hikaru's dark corner. The short fire demon was scowling as usual. His eyes were watching Akio and the girl he was dancing with._

_"Hey, Hikaru." Hojo leaned against the wall next to him, "Rumor has it that the guy we're looking for isn't coming here tonight."_

_"Hn." Hikaru's eyes were still focused on Akio, "What does he think he's doing dancing with that human?"_

_The music stopped and the girls released their partners. Selena whispered something into Akio's ear before she let him slip back through the barrier._

_"I guess you can ask him." Hojo motioned for Akio to come over. He acknowledged with a nod._

_"They say I can have a dance with you. Is that alright?" Touya took Selena's hand and pulled her closer._

_"Yeah, that's fine." she smiled as another song began._

_"What was that about?" Hana had joined Hojo and the others. Her question was directed to Akio._

_"Yeah, Akio. I never knew you could dance." Hojo teased._

_"That girl I was dancing with is Selena." Akio replied. This came as a shock to the group._

_"Are you serious?" Hojo eyed the girl again._

_"Yes. It was Touya's idea for her to participate."_

_"And why did he think this was a good idea for her?"_

_"I guess when Arishima's here, he often enjoys the company of the girls."_

_"Too bad he's not coming here tonight."_

_"He's not?"_

_"Nope."_

_"Then we should collect the others and go." Hana said quietly._

_"Look at how she throws herself at him. He's not even worthy to touch her, yet he has his lips all over her neck!" Hikaru growled._

_"Okay, easy there, Hikaru. She's old enough to make her own choices. Maybe she likes Touya." Hojo was amused by Hikaru's sudden and unexpected jealousy._

_"Um...actually they used to be in love." Arata spoke quietly, "It looks like they still are."_

_"She's in love with that ice demon?" Hikaru watched her body move with Touya's, "And why the hell does she look like that for?"_

_"Hikaru, quiet down. We cannot attract attention to her." Akio said softly, "Besides, she looks like you right now."_

_"Oh yeah! Black hair, red eyes, she's perfect for you Hikaru." Hojo teased his teammate and got a death glare from Hikaru. He looked back up to watch her and Touya. Her eyes met with his. For a few moments their stare remained unbroken. Touya turned her in his arms and Hikaru grunted._

_"We'll give them a few more moments and then we should let them know what's going on." Hojo turned away._

_The sound of a girl's scream interrupted the noise already filling the building. The barrier before the girls had been broken. Touya shoved Selena behind him as eight demons stepped onto the stage._

_"Touya?" Selena's voice was shaky._

_"It's alright, Moon." Touya said reassuringly._

_"Step aside, boy." a bluish, four-eyed demon reached forward and pushed Touya away. Selena backed up. Touya was back in front of her in seconds, his arm now frozen over in the shape of a sword, "A feisty on, eh?"_

_"Step away from the girls. I assure you, you don't want to fight with me." Touya spat angrily._

_"Or me." Hojo was on the stage pointing his index finger at the demon in front of Touya, "Touch any of these girls and you won't have heads left on your shoulders."_

_The demons hesitated. They watched Hojo with caution. They knew the spirit detectives were a very serious group. Two taller demons broke the interruption and pulled Hiromi and Suzume closer to them. Both girls squealed with fear. The other took this as a sign to continue. Natsumi took off screaming as she was chased by two of the other ugly demons._

_"Hand her over, boy." the bluish demon stepped closer, "Don't make me allow the others to be killed."_

_"Touya?"_

_"Yes, Moon?"_

_"Move."_

_"Are you sure,?"_

_"Move." She demanded harshly_

_"That's it listen to the lovely human." the demon was grinning madly now._

_"Very well." Touya moved to the side, "but I will not leave your side. I refuse."_

_She kept still as the demon roughly grabbed her chin and forced her head up. She gave a small smirk._

_"Yes, you'll do nicely." the demon checked her over. As he looked back at the other demons, Selena's hands began to glow light pink. In both hands formed a set of whips. The sudden change in energy levels brought the demon's attention back to her. He was met by one whip around his throat and one around his waist._

_"I guess I should've warned you." she smiled in a devilish manner, "I am not an average girl."_

_She pulled her arms back quickly, severing the head and upper body right off. His black blood splattered across the floor. Selena eyed the other demons around her. They were advancing. The whips changed into her normal weapons of daggers. She waited for them to get closer, eyeing each one with angry, challenging eyes. They refused to back down and she loved it. She dove at the closest demon and sliced his head off in one quick stroke. The other demons swarmed in on her._

_"Damn her." Hikaru was at the stage in and instant. His katana unsheathed and decapitaing it's nearest victim. He could hear Selena's gasp from the mass of demon bodies above her. Hikaru fought harder and pulled her out hard by her arm. Gathering her into his arms, he leapt back ten feet from the stage. By then Hojo and the others finished the rest off without any harm coming to the other girls._

_"We need to go now." Akio said quickly and motioned for Touya to follow._

_"Damn it, what the hell happened? Who are these guys?" Hojo kicked one of the dead demons._

_"Later, Hojo." Touya motioned to Hikaru and an unconscious Selena, "Akio's right. We have to go."_

_"Right."_

_Hikaru didn't waste any time and rushed out of the building with her in his arms. As he ran he glanced at her several times. He hated the black wig she was wearing. Her features were softer to him with her pink hair. He shook his head. That was not a normal thought. He jumped from roof top to roof top until he reached the edge of the city and the beginning of the forest._

_"You can put me down, Hikaru." Selenas' voice was soft._

_"Hn." he wasn't listening._

_"Please, I can walk." she pleaded. He set her down gently, "Thank you."_

_"Hn."_

_"I mean it." she unpinned the wig and pulled it off, her pink curls cascading over her shoulders. She removed the red contacts next, "Damn these things suck."_

_"Why did you wear them then?" Hikaru watched her poke her finger into her own eye._

_"It wasn't my idea." she finished and shoved the things into her pocket. She looked up at Hikaru, her blue eyes sparkling again._

_"Selena." he said her name quietly._

_"What?"_

_"Nevermind." he turned and walked away._

_"What the fuck was that for?" she caught up with him._

_"You were careless."_

_"What?"_

_"You shouldn't have done that alone."_

_"Why would you care?" she snapped._

_"Because I..." he stopped himself. She watched him closely._

_"Because you what?"_

_"Hn." his reply was short and he hurried his pace, "Foolish girl."_

_"Damn you, Hikaru!" She smacked the back of his head before running up the temple steps that were now visible._

_"I think you made her mad, Hikaru." Hojo was teasing again. They had finally caught up with him._

_He walked silently with his team mates up the long steps. His head thinking of how foolish he had almost been. If he had admitted that he cared, he would be weak. Weak was not something Hikaru would ever accept._


	15. Selena vs Hikaru round two!

**Izaioi is starting to get emotional at the story of the first meeting between Selena and the Jr Spirit team**

_Breakfast the morning after was wonderfully silent and peaceful. Due to the fact nobody was talking, but eyes often glanced between the angry fire demon and the sullen Selena. Earlier, before breakfast, the two had an encounter in the hallway which led to shouting and eventually Selena being thrown into the nearby wall. It would have continued, except Hojo and Akio stepped in to break them up. Selena threw quite a series of beligerent and rude remarks at the short demon, which only made him angrier. Thankfully, Hojo was able to drag the cussing girl off before Hikaru got mad enough to kill her. It was obvious at the breakfast table, that Selena was no longer angry, but seemed very deeply sad. Genkai watched her pupil with silent concern. She had never seen this side of Selena before._

_"I'm going for a walk." Selena rose to her feet quietly and walked from the room. The others watched her go, all but Hikaru._

_She walked the dark hallway to the front door of the temple. She needed fresh air and a few Genkaients alone. Alone and away from everyone who would eventually ask her what was wrong. She wasn't sure why she was suddenly unhappy._

_She leaned against the side of the temple and rested her head onto he knees. The only thing going through her head then was him. Her fight with Hikaru and her being thrown by him weighed heavily on her mind. He had been so different the night before, so gentler. How could things go so wrong over one night? She closed her eyes and replayed the night before's events in her mind. It was Hikaru that came to her aid when the demon's engulfed her. He had carried her all the way back to the temple steps. All she wanted to know was why. That question was all that she wanted answered, but for some reason it set the two of them against each other that morning. She sighed sadly and buried her face in her knees._

_"Don't do that, please." Arata's voice was gentle. Selena looked up at him and gave a small smile._

_"Hey, Arata." She patted the ground next to her and he sat, "What brings you out here?"_

_She already knew the answer, but it was best for her to just get it over with._

_"You seem very sad today. I don't like when pretty girls are sad." he admitted truthfully._

_"Oh, Arata, you think I'm pretty?" she smiled bigger this time and he blushed vividly. His cheeks changing to a scarlet pink._

_"Um..."_

_"It's okay, Arata." Selena laughed, "Thank you for the compliment. It made me feel better."_

_"So, do you want to talk with me? You don't have to if you don't want to. I just figured you might want to vent to someone that is neutral."_

_"Okay, I'll talk with you. You're very easy to talk with." she said quietly, he blushed again._

_"Are you sad because of Hikaru?" he asked and she gave a small sigh. He got to the point rather quickly._

_"I don't know." she answered, "I just wish we hadn't have fought this morning. I just wanted to know why...why last night he seemed so concerned. Why last night he seemed to almost care."_

_"Was he really acting like that?" Arata shook his head, "That doesn't sound like him."_

_"I guess you're right. I was probably imagining things." she rose to her feet, "Let's go for a run. You think you're up for it?"_

_"Yeah, I guess."_

_They stretched a bit before setting off in a light jog around the temple. She was faster by a lot, but she steadied her pace to allow him to keep up. Along the way they continued to talk about everything that came to their minds. Which wasn't much considering she had nothing she wanted to share and he was too busy consentrating on running._

_"Come on, Arata! You're too slow!" Selena yelled and laughed. Her mood had certainly brightened up during the jog and Hikaru felt just a little glad to see her smile._

_He watched from a safe distance as the pair made their tenth lap around the temple. Sadly, Arata was starting to slow whereas Selena only got faster._

_"Hey stop!" Arata stopped short and Selena turned back to face him._

_"What? Are you tired already?" she laughed again, "It's alright. That was a good run. Go on in and take a shower. You smell!"_

_Arata gave her his usual goofy grin before heading into the temple. Selena sighed quietly. She felt better thanks to the big ape. Things might not have gone as well if it had been someone else that came to talk to her._

_She headed towards the pond again. The cool water would help relax her and hopefully nobody would bother her. She stripped down to the blue bikini she was wearing underneath and slipped into the icy, clear water. She dipped under the surface and lingered a few seconds before coming back up. It was very refreshing._

_"Hn."_

_She closed her eyes as it became obvious that she was no longer alone._

_"Damn." she cursed silently before turning to face him. He stood alone on the rock watching her, "Go away."_

_"No." he answered curtly. She bowed her head and turned away. She refused to argue with him, "Where are you going?"_

_"Away from you." she said quietly. She stepped out of the pond and reached for her clothes. In a flash, Hikaru had them and was on the other side of the pond, "What is your fucking problem today?"_

_"Hn."_

_"What is with that? Can't you answer like a normal human?" she yelled. He rolled his crimson eyes at her stupidity._

_"Stupid girl, I'm not human."_

_"I know that! Shut up!" she turned away giving him a nice view of her backside. He turned away, unable to continue watching her._

_"My problem is with you."_

_"Like I couldn't figure that out on my own!" Selena turned slightly to glare at the back of his head._

_"I want to fight you."_

_"What's the point? We both know you're stronger!"_

_He faced her again, giving her a smirk that made her blush and turn away._

_"I wasn't satisfied with that match."_

_"You weren't satisfied with a match you dominated? Is it because I'm not dead that you're unhappy?"_

_He studied her expression and the pouty lips she once again presented. He was tempted to rip the damn things right off her face._

_"You're weak."_

_"Compared to you, yes!"_

_"Arata could even beat you."_

_"Insulting me won't make me fight you, Hikaru." she crossed her arms over her chest and began to walk back inside. He quickly blocked her. She tried to push him away and continue on, but he tripped her and pinned her by her arms to the ground. This made her angry and she kicked him hard in the stomach. He released her._

_"You will fight me." he threw her clothes at her and she caught them._

_"No, I won't." she retorted defiantly, "Just because you're having a bad day, doesn't mean you can take it out on me."_

_"Pathetic human."_

"_Im not HUMAN! I AM HALF DEMON, MAYBE NOT THE SAME AS YOU, BUT WE ARE EQUAL." She paused "SCRATCH THAT!WE WILL NEVER BE EQUAL. I HAVE THE COMPASITY TO LOVE AND TAKE CARE OF MY LOVED-ONES, YOU ON THE OTHER HAND CARE NOTHING ABOUT ANYBODY ELSE, YOU ARE ONLY HERE BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO BE. DON'T TRY AND LIE TO ME HIKARU, YOU'LL ONLY END UP LOOKING LIKE AN IDIOT!" She tried to move passed him again and he refused to let her leave. This time his katana had become unsheathed and was held in a very firm grip in his left hand. She took a step back and rolled her eyes. The only hope she had of getting out of this was by fighting with him. She sighed "At least let me change first."_

_"Why?" The question made her laugh and he scowled at her._

_"Um, shorty? I'm only in a wet bikini and I'm getting cold." She looked at him, crystal blue eyes sparkling in the afternoon sunlight, "Just let me change and then I'll fight you. Is that alright with you, shorty?" she asked sarcaticallyt_

_"Hn. I suppose." he spat, "Meet me where we fought last time."_

_She was able to pass him this time and she walked back into her Master Genkai's temple. She could feel his eyes watching her the whole way there. Giving him one last evil glare, she entered the temple and walked to her room._

_She threw her clothing around, looking for something suitable to wear for a fight with Hikaru. She settled on a pair of blue shorts and a black tank-top._

_She mummbled every cuss word that came to mind as she left her room, stalked passed Gina and headed off to the battle ground. Gina could only watch with curiosity as the angry girl passed._

_Hikaru waited in the single tree atop the small green hill. His patience was growing thin. He was sure that Selena would never show up. He leaned against the trunk and crossed his arms over his chest. He waited and waited. Every second his anger grew just a little more. Finally the sun shimmered off the head of black hair that was starting up the hill. Hikaru started for her. Slow at first, then faster. Selena dodged his first attack and stepped back._

_"You jerk!" she screamed. He came at her again, katana drawn and swinging at her head. Hikaru was out for blood and Selena was very nervous, but she readied herself with her spirit daggers. After dodging another attempt at her head, she charged and swung hard._

_"Pathetic attempt!" his knee connected with her chest and sent her flying backwards, her breath knocked out of her. She fought to get on her feet, feeling that he was coming closer at a very face pace. He had ditched his katana and his fist slammed hard against her face. She tumbled back further._

_"Stop it!" she cried out and rose to her feet. Hikaru was already before her throwing punches and kicks one after another._

_Genkai and Akio felt it first. The surge in energy so close to the temple was getting hard to miss. Hikaru and Selena were physically fighting not too far away. The second Selena's energy dropped by a considerable amount, the whole group knew and they were all out the door without looking back._

_The sight they saw as they reached the area was horrific. Selena was trying to stand again and Hikaru wasn't letting her. Her left eye was swollen shut and turning a very dark shade of purple. Blood spilled from a deep gash on her head and mixed in with the black hair._

_"He's going to kill her! Somebody stop him!" Hana cried, tears falling onto her cheeks as she watched Selena try to stand once again._

_Hikaru came at her and she used all her strength to avoid him and trip him. He stumbled, but did not fall. It gave her just enough time to stand._

_"You really are pathetic." his aggressive features softened just slightly._

_"Like it or not, this isn't over." Selena spat angrily._

_"Your body can't take anymore of this."_

_"Don't tell me what I can and cannot handle!" she yelled angrily, "You don't know anything!"  
He felt her energy rise gradually. There was something else to her and he knew he had brought it out._

_"Finally." he mumbled._

_With her vision badly blurred, Selena proceeded with the fight before her. This time she swore she'd make him suffer._

_The ball of energy that appeared in her hand exploded in a quick, bright flash. Hikaru was quick to shield his eyes and detect her movements. She was coming from behind. He chuckled and turned to confront her._

_"Hn." he brought his arm up to block her kick._

_"Wrong move." her voice came from behind again, as did her kick. It sent him flying, slamming hard into the tree nearby._

_"Where did that come from?" Hojo watched, his mouth dropped open in awe._

_"She's not a little girl." Touya smiled, "He just pushed her too far."_

_"Is it wise to let them continue like this?" Arata asked nervously. He watched as Selena and Hikaru continued their fight._

_"Yes." Touya and Akio answered together, surprising most of the others. Genhai silently agreed._

_"Can someone please explain why this is good for them? Come on! I mean, Selena's starting to look like ground beef!" Hojo demanded an explaination._

_"They have a lot of pent up frustration towards each other." Akio answered quietly, "Neither of them are willing to kill the other. Just let them fight it out."_

_"Selena will fall and stay down soon enough." Touya added, "I'm proud of her. I hadn't realized she had gotten this good."_

_Hikaru was surprised to say the least by Selena's little surge of energy and the few attacks that managed to connect. What surprised him more was her determination to keep going._

_When she dropped to her knees, Hikaru ceased his assault. He knelt before her. She gave him a small smirk before falling forward and landing against his shoulder._

_"It's done." Genkai walked forward, "Come along, Hana. You'll be needed."_

_"Right!" the blue-haired deity followed in stride._

_Hikaru laid Selena onto the ground gently. This time the fight had gone much better. He brushed her hair from her face and gazed upon her features. Even with the swollen, purple eye, she was still beautiful to him._

_As Genkai approached, Hikaru turned to leave. The emotions pouring through him he refused to let anyone see._

_"Uh...Hikaru?" Hana called out his name as he walked away._

_"Let him go. His wounds aren't serious." Genkai said quietly._

_"How is she?" Akio asked as him and the others joined them._

_"Out cold, huh?" Hojo chuckled, "That was one hell of a fight."_

_Hana healed the young black-haired girl completely. All cuts and bruises vanished, but Selena remained unconscious._

_"I'll carry her back." Touya lifted her, "She really over did it this time."_

_"Yes, but it wasn't really a bad thing." Akio smiled, "Hikaru provoked her today on purpose. He wanted to test her limits. I doubt he's completely satisfied."_

_"She won't be fighting again for a few days at least." Genkai answered, "This has drained her."_

_Off in the shadows of the forest, a lone demon chuckled with amusement. He watched the group vanish from the hill._

_"Naizen will be happy to hear of this sudden developement." he growled happily and slinked away into the deeper darkness._


	16. Your ass will be the first one I kick,

**They are pausing in the story as you read this to get a quick drink, and go to the bath room, in Izaioi's case to get a sweater. They almost alerted Selena, but avoided a confrontion now on with the story says Arata**

Akio poked his head into Selena's room to check on the sleeping girl. He had done so every hour since Touya had set her there the day before. Once he was satisfied that she was sleeping peacefully, he set out to find Hikaru. Another thing he had been doing every hour since yesterday.

He started into the forest. Hikaru had been patrolling the area around the temple, keeping a watch out for anything that was off or could be considered a threat. Akio knew also that there were some conflicting emotions running through his friend's head. He could tell when he gave the report on the girl's condition. A small flicker of relief always passed in the crimson orbs of the fire demon.

Akio leaned silently under the tree with which Hikaru was standing at the very top of. With skillful grace, Hikaru jumped and landed on the branch just above Akio's head. His eyes searched Akio's face for an answer before realizing that he would get nothing unless he asked, yet again.

"Well?" Hikaru spat while glaring. Akio merely chuckled.

"She's the same, Hikaru. She's only moved slightly since last time, but she seems comfortable. You should consider checking in on her yourself." he answered.

"I will do no such thing."

"What are you afraid of, Hikaru? That she might not feel the same way about you?"

"What are you talking about, Fox?" Hikaru looked away.

"The others might not see it, but I do."

"See what? There is nothing to see." Hikaru glared down at Akio, "I never asked you to give me an hourly report on her."

"You're getting defensive, Hikaru." Akio shot back, "I only tell you because I felt you would want to know. It was your idea to approach her like that yesterday."

"She got exactly what she needed yesterday! You know as well as I do that Naizen is ruthless. If he finds her, she won't be able to stand up to him. She will die."

"Which is why we are here to help protect her." Akio pulled away from the tree, "I'm going back to the temple now. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind knowing that you're okay as well, Hikaru."

"Then tell them." he retorted before jumping to a higher branch.

Akio re-entered the temple and was greeted by a smiling Gina and a very cheerful Hana. He questioned them about the whereabouts of the rest of the team and was pointed in the direction of the training room. With a warm smile and a nod, he left the girls to find the others. His thoughts focused on Hikaru as he walked. His friend wasn't ready to come to terms with his new emotions and he knew better than to press an issue like this with him. With a light sigh, Akio opened the door to the training room. Arata was being flung across the room by Hojo. Akio took a seat next to Touya.

"The same I take it?" Touya glanced at Akio and then back at the pair fighting.

"Yeah, she's still asleep." Akio nodded.

"Has Hikaru checked in on her yet?"

"I've given him an update on her condition. He's very content on staying outside to keep an eye out."

"I see."

"Well hey, Akio! Where did you disappear to?" Hojo's (I DON'T THINK I HAVE MENTIONED THIS BEFORE, BUT HOJO IS YUSUKE'S SECOND COUSIN) questioned and Akio caught his gaze.

"It's nothing, Hojo."

"You were near Selena again, weren't you?" Arata was stalking towards him and Akio rose to his feet, "You better not be up to any funny stuff, Akio. She won't like that."

"I merely check on her, Arata. There is nothing to get concerned over."

Hana raced into the room with a faint blush on her cheeks. She looked over the group of guys and took a deep breath. She shook her head, strands of blue hair flowing with the sharp movements.

"What is it, Hana?" Genkai stepped forward. Hana bit her bottom lip and began.

"I need someone strong to help me with something." she looked away, "Selena wants to use the bathroom, but she's too weak to stand."

"Oh, she's awake?"

"Barely. She's in the hallway leaning on poor Gina."

"Lead me to her." Genkai started out into the hallway, "Between the two of us, Hana, we'll be able to help her."

With a quick nod, Hana followed the old psychic. She led her down the hall to where she had left the exhausted fighter with the ice maiden. Selena lifted her head at the noise coming up the hall and she snorted.

"I didn't need a fucking audience."

"We were concerned about you and had to come check to see if you were feeling any better." Touya took her arm and pulled her away from Gina, "Thank you for holding her up."

"It was nothing." Gina bowed.

"You are not coming into the bathroom with me you pervert." Selena leaned her head on his shoulder, "I'll find strength to punch you if you do."

"Hana and Genkai are going to take you into the bathroom." Touya laughed, "I wouldn't dream of following a little girl into the bathroom."

"Why you..."

"Keep still. I was joking." Touya handed her off to Hana and Genkai, "Now, Selena, be a good girl and don't give them any problems."

"When I get my strength back your ass will be the first one I kick, Touya."

"I look forward to it." he gave her a bright smile and watched the three females enter the bathroom. Touya turned to the other guys, "I believe Hikaru would want to know she is awake, although I'm sure she'll probably go back to bed after this."

"Yes, I will inform him shortly." Akio leaned against the wall, "I wasn't expecting her to awaken this soon. I figured it would be some time tomorrow."

"I'm surprised too. Who knew she'd recover so quickly?" Hojo leaned against the wall. His eyes shifted between his teammates, Gina and Touya. They all seemed to shrug simultaneously and he couldn't help but to chuckle.

"Well, she is Hiei's kid. That has to count for something." Arata stated and shrugged again.

"Yeah, it counts for the mood swings she gets."

"I heard that!" Selena yelled. A few seconds later the three women came out of the bathroom and Selena glared daggers at ebony-haired spirit detective.

"You know, you're kinda pretty when you're angry." Hojo grinned which made her growl in frustration.

"Are you all set?" Touya took Selena back into his arms, "Would you like to go lie back down now?"

"No, not yet. I want something to eat first."

"Allow me to lead you to the dining hall then." Touya smiled and she nodded. The rest of the group followed along behind them. Akio silently slipped away just as they entered the room.

"You surprised us yesterday with that fight, Selena." Arata took a seat next to her, "That last burst of energy you got was intense. I don't think shorty was prepared for it."

"If he had been, he would have blocked me. It was just luck anyway. I barely laid a finger on him and he kicked the shit out of me." Selena leaned her head on the table and smiled at Arata, "In a couple days we should go for another run."

"That's fine with me."

"You're so easy to talk to." Selena smirked, "And you are a good listener...unlike Hojo who only flaps his lips every second he gets."

"Hey! I resent that." Hojo said defensively, "And I thought we were becoming friends."

Selena laughed and smiled weakly at the group. They did feel like good friends to her. Each of them in their own special way made her feel more comfortable even though she was now well aware of the danger surrounding her and them.

Outside

Hikaru grumbled to himself when he felt Akio approaching him before an hour had even passed. Akio's leisurely stroll assured Hikaru that nothing had gone wrong with the girl. He kept his eyes searching the woods around them. Something was not sitting well with him. There was something out there. He just couldn't pick up on it. He'd have to go look after he found out what Akio wanted this time. He jumped down from his place in the trees to confront him.

"What is it now, Fox?" his crimson eyes giving a cold, piercing gaze to his friend.

"I thought that you would like to know that she is awake." Akio replied. He held back a laugh when Hikaru's eyes widened, "She should still be awake. She was going to get something to eat before going back to bed."

"Hn. How can she even walk?" Hikaru started walking away and in the direction of the temple.

"She got help. First from Gina and Hana and then from Touya." Akio answered. Hikaru's eyes met with his shortly after he mentioned Touya's name, "Would you have preferred if it was Arata instead?"

"Hn. At least Arata doesn't throw himself at her."

"No, he does that to your sister."

"Watch yourself, Fox."

"Sorry, that was wrong of me. I guess I've been spending too much time with Selena."

"Hn."

They re-entered the temple in silence. Laughter filled the hallway along with Hojo shouting a few random cuss words at a few of them. When Hikaru and Akio entered the room, the laughter stopped and eyes passed between Hikaru and Selena. Selena smiled and Hikaru took his normal seat. Things seemed rather normal between the two, but Akio knew otherwise. The feelings conveyed through their eyes said more than they were letting on. Even though the two always fought, there was something deeper growing. Akio could only hope that Hikaru wouldn't flee when he realized exactly what it was that he felt for Selena.

They managed to make it through the meal without any serious injuries. Hojo was the bearer of all the jokes and he continued to throw rude comments at anyone that pissed him off. This only made the group laugh harder at him and in the end Arata had a few new bumps and bruises courteous of the spirit detective.

"This has been fun, but I need to get back to bed. I should be back to normal come sun up." Selena steadied herself as she rose to her feet. Everyone gasped as she fell backwards onto her rear end. Gina and Hana erupted into a fit of giggles and the others tried to hold back their laughter, "Yeah, yeah. Keep laughing. I swear I'll make all of you pay one way or another."

She tried to stand again. Her legs felt like jello, but she was too stubborn to give up or to ask for help. Once again she felt herself falling back, but this time she fell into a pair of strong arms. She looked up and gave a quiet gasp when a pair of ruby eyes stared back. She looked away as she felt her cheeks heat up. He lifted her into his arms and carried her from the room, never once looking at the others who were undoubtedly staring at the scene that played out before them.

She kept her stare away from him as he carried her down the dimly lit hallway. She knew her cheeks had to be as red as tomatoes by this point. She was embarrassed enough to be so weak in front of him that she didn't even want him to know she was blushing. She leaned her head against his chest as the warmth from his body was making her drowsy. His steady heartbeat set a rhythm that lured her back into a peaceful slumber.

Hikaru opened her door quietly, well aware that she had fallen back asleep. He set her down gently on the bed and moved her arms from around his neck. She snuggled into her pillow and Hikaru found himself smiling at the innocent act. He covered her with her blanket and turned to leave.

The energy that skyrocketed a Genkaient later had Hikaru dashing towards the temple's exit. There was definitely something powerful roaming in the forest and he wanted to dispose of it immediately. He knew he wasn't alone when Akio and Hojo caught up.

"Do you think it's him?" Hojo questioned the other two. They didn't answer as they continued on to find the source of the enormous energy.

"Where are the ape and the other one?" Hikaru looked to Akio.

"Genkai said for them to stay at the temple. They both protested, but it's best for someone to be at the temple with the girls." Akio answered and stopped when the problem was set before them.

"You've got to be kidding me?" Hojo recognized two of the demon's from the club.

"We've come to put a stop to you before you can interrupt Naizen's plans." A reddish demon with large, brown pointy fangs scowled at the trio.

"You four think you can do that?"

"We know we can."

"Very well then. It's your head."

Back at the temple

He slinked in through her window without making a sound. It was too easy. They would never pick up on him with his energy being so low. He could achieve his plans and hopefully be well rewarded for it too. He stepped closer to the young woman sleeping on the bed. She rolled over slightly causing him to stop abruptly. She opened her eyes and tried to focus on the darkness in the corner of the room.

"Kage, is that you?" her voice was raspy and tired. The lone demon emerged from the darkness, "You're not Kage!" Kage was like a brother to her. Back when Selena was little he had always helped Selena with the welts and bruises she received but could never do anything for her because he was a runaway himself. He was 4 years older. Since Selena was half awake. It made sence for her to be dreaming of him. He made sure he saw her at least one a year, ever since she ranaway from that bitch's house all those years ago.

He covered her mouth with his hand and shoved her back onto the bed, smacking her head on the frame and effectively knocking her unconscious. He lifted her into his arms and climbed onto the windowsill. He spread his long, blue bat wings out and took off high into the sky, Selena tightly clutched in his grasp.

Top of Form


	17. Kidnapped!

**THE STORY GETS INTRESTING MU HAHAHA…..**

_. They didn't know it yet, but Kage was who the enemy wanted, not Hiei, Konma recentally figured this out. He waited for Hana to come see him with the latest news to give her the word._

_His hand grazed over the base of her neck and across her bare shoulder. She was more than he had imagined. He would enjoy using this little beauty to bring about the demise of his rival Kage, the psychic Genkai and the damned Spirit Detectives that had gotten themselves involved. They would all pay for their insolence. In the end, he would make sure she met the same fate as the others. Until then he would savor the moments and wait patiently for the confrontation._

_Naizen stalked the halls of his compound searching for the demon that had brought the young woman to him without being seen by anyone. The man-bat demon stood silently in a room with a few other followers of the powerful Naizen Arishima. The group bowed as Naizen entered._

_"Baldok, I have come to personally thank you for your help this evening. Without your knowledge of the psychic's forest, this might not have been possible." Naizen gave an eerie smile and everyone around him remained silent. Naizen rarely smiled._

_"It was nothing, my lord." Baldok kept his eyes averted, "I just wish to see Hojo Uremeshi suffer."_

_"Yes, of course. You were once beaten by him in Genkai's forest. Rest assured, Baldok, this Hojo Uremeshi will get exactly what he deserves." Naizen turned his back on the group._

_"Thank you, my lord." Baldok bowed again._

_"Oh, yes. There was one more thing." Naizen's claws extended longer and he turned to face the blue man-bat, "I have no further use for you weakling."_

_Naizen's claws pierced through the throat of the Baldok. Baldok's eyes widened as death crept upon him quickly. His eyes searched for answers in Naizen's steely black ones, but found nothing. Naizen let the body slide from his claws, enjoying the feel of the demon's blood dripping from his own fingers as he watched the remains crumple to the floor. He motioned for the others in the room to hurry and clean the mess or else they'd join him. He turned and exited. He had a lot of work that needed to be accomplished, but would have to wait until after his meeting with his generals._

_"Naizen, I see things are going according to plan." a tall and slender female ogre sat to his right. His eyes gazed at hers and he nodded._

_"I have her here at the compound and Baldok has been taken care of as well." Naizen began, "I sent out the challenge just shortly after, adding a lock of her precious hair to prove that he failed to protect her."_

_"Wonderful news then." the female smirked, "What of the others? They will come to fight as well, right?"_

_"Yes, definitely. I am sure that Kage will confront them after he receives the challenge. Let's just hope that Kage doesn't send them instead of going himself. I hate when weak and pathetic fools back down from a fight. If he doesn't come, I'll just slit the girl's throat and leave her lying on his doorstep."_

_"Hmm, too bad we couldn't do that anyway. I'd love to see her blood."_

_"You will in time." Naizen glanced at the four other generals in the room and began, "This is how things will go if Genkai and the others decide to tag along. We will station the weaker soldiers in the front. No doubt they will be slaughtered, but no one really cares about low class demons anyway. After the main gate, should they get through and it's very likely, Tomo and Naoko will be the first round the need to contend with." Naizen pointed to the female next to him and to a shorter, green frog demon across the table._

_"Aww, the first round?" Naoko smiled playfully, "But that would leave the rest of you with nothing."_

_"Should they get through, Reijiro and Arata will be round two." Naizen motioned to the two wolf demon brothers standing in the back of the room, "If they get past that, then I will gladly step up to take them down."_

_"Should they get past me and Tomo, they will never make it past the wolf brothers." Naoko smiled and twirled her ruby-red hair between her fingers, "It's almost too easy."_

_"Yes, all we will do now is wait for word from Kage." Naizen rose, "You are all dismissed."_

_He walked back to the room he had left Selena in. His maids had already bathed the girl and changed her into attire more to his liking. He lightly ran his finger over her throat and down into the valley between her breasts. He slid one finger against the black leather encasing the soft mounds of flesh within. Perhaps before her tragic and most certain death he'd uncover what secrets she was hiding beneath._

_He continued to admire the black leather she now adorned. Her father would be shocked to see his baby girl dressed so provocatively. The thoughts were enough to make Naizen smile._

_The two maids scurried into the room and kept their eyes averted to the floor while Naizen was in the room. He stood and approached them._

_"Take her to the throne room and make sure she is chained tightly to my throne. See that the cuffs are done tightly so she won't be able to use any of her spirit energy. If anything is done wrong, I'll kill you." Naizen waved them off and they hurried to carry Selena from the room._

_"Where the hell were you?" Hojo yelled at the group standing before them, "How could she have just disappeared?"_

_"I came up to check on her just shortly after you guys took off. By then she was already gone." Touya shook his head, "I have to go tell her father. Hana, is there any way to get me there quicker?"_

_"Yes, of course. I'll take you myself." Hana frowned and turned to Genkai, "I'll stop by to see Koenma as well. I'm sure he can help."_

_"Thank you, Hana. You too, Touya. Please be safe." Genkai nodded, "Hana, you should take Gina with you and have her wait with Koenma. It's too dangerous for her to stay here."_

_"Right." Hana opened a portal in the middle of the room and motioned for Touya and Gina to follow her. Once they were gone, all the others could was wait._

_"We can't just stand here doing nothing! We have to find her!" Hojo's fist connected with the wall for the fourth time in the past ten minutes._

_"I agree!" Hojo stalked to the window and stared out into the darkness, "They couldn't have gotten too far."_

_"We will wait for word from Koenma." Genkai snapped, "We are not sure exactly where she's been taken and hopefully either Koenma or Hiei will let us know what's going on."_

_"I hate waiting!" Hojo yelled._

_"Shut up, Hojo. You're voice is starting to irritate me." Hikaru stopped his pacing to glare at Hojo._

_"What's with you? We need to save her! You know she can't defend herself right now!"_

_"I said shut up!" Hikaru slammed Hojo hard into the wall and then stalked angrily from the room. Akio sighed heavily and watched him go._

"_You can't leave, Hikaru. Please be patient until Hana returns." Hojo pleaded and Hikaru growled at him._

"_Do you think I'm going to take off and go find her on my own?" Hikaru looked back at the ape. He could do it, he knew he could. If only Koenma would let him into Makai, then he'd slaughter Naizen and his followers and rescue her all on his own. Hikaru stared at the floor. Why the hell would he put so much effort into saving a human girl whose father was the cause of all the problems? He shook his head. It wasn't his fight really. It was Kage's. That thought didn't sit well with the fire demon at all and he growled again._

"_You have been known to do things like that." Hojo retorted, annoyed with Hikaru._

"_Hojo, that's enough!" Genkai yelled._

"_It's alright, Genkai. Let him run his mouth. It's the only thing he's good at."_

"_Say that to my face shorty!" Hojo bellowed and charged for the demon._

"_Please, Hojo. This is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves." Akio held Hojo back, "Just calm down and relax. We need to focus now to help Selena."_

_A portal opened and Hana stepped out followed by a teenage Koenma. All eyes fell upon the pair and the room grew very silent._

"_What's the deal?" Hojo had to break the silence. It was getting on his nerves._

"_She's at Naizen's compound in Makai. Apparently when no one was looking, Baldok snuck in and took Selena." Koenma replied and put his hand up to stop everyone from speaking, "I know this because Baldok ended up in Spirit World and explained what had happened. He trusted Naizen, and in turn, Naizen killed him."_

"_The fool got what he deserved then." Genkai stepped closer to Koenma, "Anything else? We really should get going to Makai."_

"_Not until we visit Kage." Koenma looked to the psychic, "He got a message not too long ago. Touya is already there and they are awaiting your arrival now. Kage knows he cannot do this alone."_

"_Then he should have killed Naizen when he had the chance." Hojo snapped angrily. His voice so stern that Hana jumped from it._

"_I agree with you, Hojo, but unfortunately Kage is a good person and has never killed in his entire life. This time I'm afraid it's different and we're going to have to assist him."_

"_Fine! Can we go already? You know I'm not big with waiting!"_

"_Yes yes, Hojo." Koenma motioned to Hana and she once again opened a portal. Hojo walked in first followed by the others._

_Kage's Home Inside_

_Touya sat across from Kage and Misao(His wife). Both of them were visibly shaken by the turn of events. Misao desperately clung to the lock of Selena's black hair that was sent along with the message. Tears spilled onto her already tear-stained face. Kage just held her hand and stared at the table. He was at a loss for words. He was beating himself up inside. How could he have put her through such a mess? It was his entire fault and now he needed help to fix it. All he could do was hope that they'd be willing. He knew Genkai and Touya would be, but he doubted that the three of them would be much against Naizen. They needed more and a certain group of spirit detectives was the definite answer._

_Misao sobbed softly and Kage put his arm around her. It was the only comfort he could give for now. With luck, things would go smoothly and things would return to normal._

"_If it helps, I believe they'll be willing." Touya spoke quietly, "Akio and Hojo have become good friends with Selena. They won't let Naizen hurt her. I'm sure Hojo will go along with it and Hikaru, well, I'm very certain that Hikaru will go, if he hasn't gone already."_

_Kage nodded at Touya's reassuring words. Misao seemed to relax slightly. Touya was always good at getting his wife and who he considered his sister to relax with his soft words._

"_This Hikaru guy, he's strong, huh?" Misao gave a small smile._

"_Yeah, he's very strong." Touya nodded, "He can probably wipe out more than half of Naizen's followers on his own."_

"_Wow that is strong." Misao looked out the window, "I hope he'll help rescue her."_

"_I'm sure he will, Misao. There is definitely something going on between him and Selena. I don't think either one realizes it, but I know Akio sees it as well as myself."_

"_Good." Misao smiled again and motioned to the front yard, "We have company."_

"_It looks like Koenma is gracing us with his appearance." Touya stood to answer the door._

"_Master Genkai, I am glad to see you again." Misao bowed respectfully as Genkai walked into the house, "Please, all of you, make yourselves at home."_

"_Thank you, Misao." Genkai smiled politely and took a seat at the table across from her friend, "Kage."_

"_I know. This is my fault. You don't have to say it." Kage raised his eyes to gaze at Genkai and then at the group that had accompanied her. Hikaru recognized where Selena got her eyes from. Kage's were the same color, but Selena's sparkle was definitely absent from her brother's eyes._

"_Shut up fool. Nobody has put the blame on you." Genkai stared at Kage._

"_How am I supposed to challenge, Naizen? I'm too rusty and slow now. Selena is as good as dead because of me."_

_Hikaru growled angrily at Kage's choice of words. There was no way he was letting Selena die because of this guy and his lack of confidence._

"_By all means, sir, we can handle Naizen on our own. You'll just need to accompany us." Akio stepped forward sensing Hikaru's growing frustration. He wanted to put his friend at ease._

"_Are you sure you want to do this? What if you die?"_

"_Then you and Selena will die as well." Hikaru spat, his eyes full of anger and hatred._

"_You don't sound very confident in yourself."_

"_You are not one to talk."_

"_Hikaru's right. Just lead us to Naizen's compound and let us take care of the hard stuff. It's been awhile since we had a good fight anyway." Hojo cracked his knuckles then his neck, "Yeah, I'm sure we can get in and bring her back safe and sound, dude. Don't you worry about it."_

"_I'm going with you." Touya spoke up, "She's my best friend and I'll be damned if I'm not there to help save her."_

"_It seems like you have a crew organized. Hana, you will assist them." Koenma sighed, "Naizen's compound is a complex building not unlike the castle the Saint Beasts had. You should know that aside from Naizen, there are four demons that are referred to as Naizen's generals. They are a particularly strong group and I'm sure you'll run into them. One of them is a toad demon, then there is a set of wolf demons who are brothers and the last is a female ogre. Please be careful and hurry back safely. I'll have the portal drop you off about half a mile from the front gate."_

"_Thank you, Koenma." Genkai rose from the seat and looked over each of the boys, "Are you dimwits ready to go? Do you have everything you need?"_

"_I think we're all set, Genkai." Akio answered and the rest nodded._

"_Good. It's time to leave, Kage. We'll give you a few moments to talk with Misao alone. Please be quick though."_

_Genkai exited the house with the others behind her. She closed her eyes as a sob escaped Misao's lips. She knew there was a chance her husband would never return home to her, but she knew he had to save Selena._

_A few short moments later Kage joined them in the front yard. Koenma opened the portal and wished the people walking through the best of luck. They were going to need it._

_Top of Form_


	18. The first battle begins

**The story is drawing to a close shortly but as it is they were still in the woods at 1 30 in the morning**

_It was quiet, dark and an unsettling breeze brushed past the group that had just stepped onto the path leading to a large stone structure belonging to Naizen Arishima. The building was huge and stood out predominantly amongst the green forest surrounding it._

_Genkai was the first to step onto the path. She gave a quick glance over her shoulder at the others and they moved into position, effectively boxing Kage in and protecting him from any possibly attack. Hojo and Hikaru took the front, Touya and Arata the sides and Akio and Hana took up the rear._

_They kept their eyes open. Although it was silent now, undoubtedly it wouldn't be that way for long. It was just a tactic to keep them on edge. Of course, this group was well prepared and ready for any surprise attacks._

_The silence was getting to Hojo, who had started mumbling random obscenities just to break the monotony. He was itching to kick something, anything, to let out the anger and frustration he was feeling. No one messed with a friend of Hojo Urameshi and got away with it._

"_I think you got them all, dimwit." Genkai was slightly amused by Hojo's foul mouth._

"_Very funny, grandma." Hojo bit back, not amused at all by her comment._

"_Are you always that disrespectful?" Kage glared at the back of Hojo's head. Hojo shrugged his shoulders and glanced back._

"_What's it to you, man?"_

"_Stop this now before it escalates." Genkai cut in, "I know the two of you very well and I don't want to listen to the arguing. Let's just focus on this mission and get Selena back safely."_

"_Feh, whatever." Hojo shoved his hands into his pockets and continued walking._

_It was too quiet for Hikaru. He had a strong urge to hurry on ahead, but knew that it would be best to stay behind with the others. Selena would want him to help protect her father. This caused him to grumble a few times himself._

_"So, Kage, how much do you know about Naizen Arishima? What should we be prepared for?" Akio questioned the older man, "Aside from his generals that I'm sure we'll encounter soon enough."_

_"I'm sure you've heard how ruthless he is." Kage began and continued after Akio nodded, "He doesn't care who gets hurt as long as things go his way. He'll kill everything and everyone. He really will kill her without hesitation if we can not get to him. I fear for her life."_

_"I assure you again. We are strong enough to save her." Hojo bit back. He glanced at Hikaru and saw nothing but clouded emotions brewing in his deadly crimson eyes. They needed to keep Kage quiet before Hikaru decided to shut him up himself._

_"I trust you." Kage bowed his head, "If Selena trusts you and Touya trusts you then I will as well."_

_"It's alright, Kage." Touya touched Kage's shoulder gently and gave a small smile when the older man looked his way._

_There was a loud roar and the crackling of wood being splintered as demons of all shapes and sizes thundered there way through the forest towards their intended targets. An evil smirk crossed Hikaru's lips causing Genkai to shudder. These weak demons had no clue what they were about to get into and for a brief Genkaient she pitied them._

_"You four stick with Kage." Genkai gave a quick command to Touya, Arata, Akio and Hana. Akio shoved Hana closer to Kage in order to shield her from the oncoming threat._

_Hikaru had unsheathed his katana and obliterated a dozen demons within a mere couple of seconds. Other demons hesitated. This was not what they had been expecting. Hojo and Genkai took down any demons that had stopped to contemplate if they were stupid enough to challenge the pissed off demon with a katana. It didn't matter what they did, Hikaru was taking down anything in his way._

_Kage stood in awe of Hikaru's raw power and aggression. This display definitely set him more at ease. This one would not hold back either. He was just as ruthless as Naizen, but he was on their side._

_Hikaru took the lives of the few remaining demons around them. He snarled ferociously as he ran his katana straight through the very last demon's heart. With no remorse what-so-ever he withdrew the weapon and turned away to face his teammates._

_"Let's go." He commanded and continued walking._

_"Hikaru, wait." Akio called out with a serious tone and Hikaru turned to glare at him, "Calm down, Hikaru and breathe."_

_"We do not have time to waste, Fox."_

_"I'm aware of that, but it's foolish to run in without first thinking."_

_Hikaru lowered his eyes and fell back in stride with the rest of the group. Akio was right, he needed to calm down._

_They walked on in silence, Akio watching his friend closely. There was definite confusion raging inside Hikaru. Akio knew it wasn't going to be pretty when Hikaru realized why he was acting the way he was, but he also wanted Hikaru to get it out. They needed him to be clear headed going into this fight and a distracted Hikaru was a bad thing._

_An evil, cackling laughter rang out through the empty path. The group stopped and watched their surroundings._

_"Up there!" Hana pointed to a tree off to the right where Naoko sat waiting on a low branch and Tomo stood below her at the base._

_"Who are you?" Hojo yelled out and stepped in front of his teammates._

_"Welcome to your doom detective." Naoko grinned malevolently at Hojo and at his companions. She flexed her long, sharp claws, "We expected you to pass our underlings and much to my delight you made it here. Which one of you will be my first victim?"_

_"She is Naoko. The only female of the four generals." Kage said loudly, "The demon below her is Tomo, a toad demon who is a master of water."_

_"Kage, Kage, Kage, it's been so long since I last saw you." Naoko smiled, "Your sister is quite, how should I put it, delectable looking. I'm curious though, does her blood taste more like yours or her wrinkled old hag of a Master Genkai? No matter, I'll find out soon enough."_

_Naoko leapt down from the tree and landed silently next to Tomo. She gave a grin to the toad demon who bowed and motioned for her to go ahead and step forward. He would gladly allow her to go first._

_"Listen lady, you do not stand a chance." Hojo cracked his knuckle._

_"I'll take you each one by one if that is fine with you." Naoko readied her sword, "How about we start with the pretty little blue-haired girl. She seems like a good enough opponent to start with."_

_It was Akio's turn to growl and he shoved Hana protectively behind him._

_"Akio?" Hana said his name quietly and nervously._

_"Just stay behind me." he answered and narrowed his eyes on Naoko, "You will start with me and leave her alone."_

_"Possessiveness! I like it! I'll save her for later then!" Naoko laughed, "Very well, red, you first!"_

_"Fine. Hojo, Hikaru, please keep an eye on Hana." Akio stepped forward and removed a single red rose from his long red hair. The rose extended and in his hand he held his usual weapon of a rose whip._

_Naoko swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat the second she caught the eyes of the man she was about to face. They held an intensity and seriousness in them that frightened her greatly. She pushed her fear aside and charged. One way or another she knew she had to beat him and his friends. Or else, she'd never be able to prove to Naizen just how much he meant to her._


	19. Fox confesses

_Akio dodged the first, weak attempt at a strike from Naoko. The female ogre whad been trying to get a feel for how he may fight against her, but he wasn't giving away anything. His face held no expression and the glint in his eyes only promised pain. She was going to have to outsmart him. Something she could tell was not going to be easy._

_She started forward again, this time engaging him in a stronger attack. She unsheathed her sword in one swift stroke. Akio, caught off guard slightly, jumped back and barely felt the sharp blade slice across his chest. He could hear a soft, startled gasp come from Hana. The pain started as a small stinging sensation. Nothing he had to really worry about right off. Hana could heal a minor wound like this quickly and then he'd be fine._

_Naoko charged again, Akio was ready for her. His rose whip catching her around the neck. A second and third vine sprouted from the vine, snaking their way down her arms and wrapping tightly around both of the female ogre's wrists. She dropped her sword to the ground and struggled to free herself from the constricting plant. It only got tighter as she fought._

"_A little help, Tomo!" she called out. The frog demon stared at her, his back resting against the tree. He made no attempt to move, "Tomo, Naizen will have your head if you let me die like this!"_

"_Will he now?" Tomo croaked. He ran a plump green finger against his chin, "I was under the impression that he could care less about you or any of us for that matter. His care lies only in himself and what he holds captive at this moment."_

"_You traitor!"_

"_No, I'm still going to do my duty, but unlike you, I will succeed. You were a failure to begin with, Naoko. Naizen knew that. You were lucky to have stayed alive for this long."_

"_You shouldn't struggle so much. It'll just prolong your suffering." Akio spoke with a calm, cold and serious tone. Naoko turned her orange eyes back to her captor. She regretted provoking this one first._

"_I see. I picked the wrong one to fight with. My mistake." Naoko pulled her hands together, grasping the vines that had attached to the opposite wrists, "If you release me, I'll lead you to the girl."_

"_No." he pulled harder. It was only a moment of time before the air would be completely crushed from her body, "You won't live."_

"_He's really pissed off." Hojo said quietly to Genkai, "I wonder what put him into that mood."_

"_I think I have an idea." Genkai muttered behind a smirk._

"_Fine." Naoko spat. Her hands glowed orange and then red. A small sphere of demon energy formed before them, "I'll just use this to kill you."_

"_You can try." Akio was unfazed by her threat. She hadn't been completely oblivious when it came to little things that occured in her temple._

_The vines tightened their hold more. Wrapping themselves higher up Naoko's torso and chest. Her breathing became desperate and strained. The energy in her hands faded, forgotten and unused. Her eyes lost their determination and glazed over with unshed tears from her confirmed fear. She was going to die._

"_If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was Youko fighting and not our Akio." Hojo watched the frog demon. It was only a matter of moments before he engaged them in a fight._

_Naoko's body slumped and the vines receded. Akio put a shakey hand to his wounded chest and dropped to one knee. He could feel the pain more now than before._

_In a flash, Tomo advanced quicker than was expected for a frog demon. His knotted wooden staff poised for a strike. The end of it began to glow a faint blue._

"_No, you don't!" Arata jumped in to defend Akio, his hands clutching his spirit sword. He deflected Tomo back, "Are you alright, Akio?"_

"_Yes, I'm fine." Akio stood slowly._

"_You take a break then. This little toad is mine!" Arata watched Tomo._

"_I'm not a toad!" Tomo grumbled. He came in to begin his assault. His long wodden staff flailing at the offender's head, "I'll make you suffer!"_

"_You alright there, Akio?" Hojo lifted his friend's arm over his shoulder delicately and helped him back to the others. Akio was glad for the help. Things were starting to spin a bit._

"_Yeah, it's nothing really." Akio smiled as Hana joined them, "But I'll be better real soon."_

"_Let's get you fixed up before we continue on." She motioned for him to sit and he listened. She knelt next to him, "Alright let me see what we're dealing with."_

_She bit her bottom lip and blushed lightly. Her hands grazed over the fabric of his shirt, her fingers stopping to unbutton the first couple of buttons. She hesitated in unbuttoning the others._

"_Hey squirt! Did you really think that would work?" Arata's voice yelled out and startled Hana. She withdrew her hands from their current task. She looked up at Akio as he laughed. Her eyes caught his._

"_Sorry." He replied quietly and looked down at the ground._

"_Can you finish removing your shirt so I can heal the damage?"_

"_Of course." He willingly complied with her request and removed his shirt._

"_This wound isn't too bad." Hana smiled. She placed her palm over his chest and let her energy flow to his wound._

"_Every attack he throws, Arata can get through, but he can't seem to get close enough to actually attack him." Touya watched the fight, "He's just wasting our time."_

"_I agree. We need to end this." Hikaru replied reaching for his katana._

"_Let me take this one, Hikaru." Touya stepped forward slightly, "Can you warn Arata to duck?"_

"_Yes." Hikaru opened a mind link with the fighting teammate and gave him the warning._

_Tomo had sent another wall of water towards Arata. When he had heard Hikaru tell him to duck he had at first been confused, but he listened. Hikaru wouldn't warn him in the middle of a battle unless it was for the best._

_Touya used a move Hikaru recalled him using against Akio in the dark tournament. Hundreds of ice shards formed and with a simple gust of frigid wind from Touya's lips, the shards were sent flying threw the towering wave of water and piercing several areas of Tomo's body. His attack stopped, but Tomo was still prepared to continue. Touya charged forward, his right arm freezing over into a sword._

"_Even if you manage to pass me, there are more waiting to claim your heads as prizes." Tomo dodged Touya's first swing, "You'll never make it into the compound and you'll never rescue the girl. By now she's likely being tortured by Naizen. Who knows what deviant things he's doing to her young, pure body? Ah, but I'm sure for Naizen they are very pleasurable, whether they are her breathy moans or her screams of agony."_

"_If he has harmed her, then I will claim his head as my prize!" Touya swung again, slicing through the torso of the frog demon. Tomo's eyes widened before his pupils dilated and all life left his body._

_Everyone had heard Tomo's last taunting words. None of them liked what he had said and they each swore that Naizen would pay if in fact Selena was harmed._

"_Are you ready, Akio?" Genkai questioned him, "Are you healed?"_

"_Yes, I am." Akio re-buttoned his shirt and slowly rose to his feet. Hana's tiny hands enclosed around his bicep, helping him to stand._

_Akio had decided then. It was now or never. He pulled Hana in for a hug. She let out a small gasp. The group around them watched, but Akio didn't care. He only hoped Hikaru would watch._

"_Akio?" Hana said quietly, nervously. Akio had yet to release her._

"_Thank you, Hana." he whispered gently._

"_It should be me thanking you, Akio. After all, you protected me from her."_

_Akio chuckled and pulled back slightly to stare in Hana's eyes, but kept his arms still embracing her. This was going better than he could've hoped for. Hana's responses to him were perfect._

"_There is something I've been meaning to tell you, Hana." He smiled and blushed, "Please don't freak out on me, just hear what I have to say."_

"_I'm listening." A blush spread across her cheeks matching Akio's. She bit her bottom lip and waited for him to speak. Her mauve eyes never left his emerald ones and she swore she could see small flecks of gold within them as well._

"_Hana, I…for the last couple of months I've been thinking about you. I wasn't sure why at first, but I know now what it is." Akio cupped her chin with his strong hand and gave her a serious expression, "Hana, I am in love with you."_

_Her breathing hesitated, her heartbeat sped up. All eyes were on her waiting for her response to Akio's confession. She froze. Her eyes widening from his confession. She was sure her cheeks were redder than before. She was taken off guard when he hugged her, but for him to say that he loved her really threw her for a loop._

_"Me?"" she questioned him softly. He smiled and she pulled him in for a hug, "You are in love with me? How did I ever get so lucky? I must be dreaming. I have to be dreaming."_

_"You're not dreaming, Hana. I can pinch you if you'd like?" Akio whispered._

_"Maybe later." Hana pulled away, "I am honored you love me, Akio. We can talk about this more after we get Selena, okay?"_

_"Yes." Akio replied and turned to the team, his eyes passed by Hikaru. Hikaru's face was scruntched slightly in concentration, "Let's continue on. If I remember there are still two generals left waiting for us."_

_The group nodded and they continued on. Akio touched Hikaru's shoulder as he passed and nodded his head towards the path. The fire demon shrugged off Akio's touch and took his place back in front protecting Kage. Akio smiled to himself. Something told him that his actions had gotten through to his friend._


	20. I think he has figured it out

_**Ok I admit it jm an idiot, see in this first draft before I changed the names, I had just been writing that Yusuke said this and blah blah blah, but I didn't realized I had another character named Arata, so yeah please bear with me, they only appear in this chapter anyways.**_

_Despite the urgency of the situation, Hojo couldn't help but to snicker at his teammates. He had never known, never realized that Akio was in love with Hana. The thought of it entertained him. He'd have to tease them when they returned to the temple. He was sure they would, just as soon as they rescued their friend._

_Arata was equally as surprised, but he was more overjoyed with the news than anything. Nothing was better than love to the big oaf and if his friends wanted to be in love, he would never stop them. He knew how wonderful it felt to be in love with someone._

_Hikaru tried not to let it bother him. Things like love were not something he put much thought into because, simply put, he would never love anyone. The only love he felt was the sibling love he felt for the sister he was determined to protect, even if she was unaware. But after Gian, there was no one. He was almost sure of it. Almost. More and more often over the past couple of days he had found his mind thinking about her. About the young pink haired girl with the foul mouth and temper. Why had she been on his mind so much? He couldn't tell, but he was almost certain it wasn't love. Almost. He shook his head slightly. This was not the time to let it get to him. There were more important matters at hand. Selena needed to be resuced and he was sure they still had more fighting to do before they could get to her and to Naizen._

_Tomo's words still played in his head. Over and over they reminded him of the possible situations that Selena could be placed in. These thoughts fueled the anger already growing inside him. He needed an outlet to take his agression out on before he exploded._

_There was a low growl that emanated from the forests around them. The group stopped to look around at the surroundings. The growls grew louder and louder._

_"It's a scare tactic." Touya replied quietly. He had fought many wolf demons in his life._

_"The last of the generals are wolf demons." Kage stated, "Be prepared, they are likely fast."_

_The growls had yet to cease and had only increased in volume. Hana was again pushed closer to Kage as the group moved closer together._

_"It seems Naoko and Tomo failed us, brother."_

_"Yes, I believe you're right, brother."_

_The two wolf demons stepped onto the path before them. The taller of the two put a hand on his brother's shoulder before addressing them._

_"I am Arata. I am the older brother and first in command of Naizen's generals." Arata spoke clearly, his brown eyes carefully observing each of the figures before him._

_"I am Reijiro. I am the younger brother and second in command of Naizen's generals." Reijiro looked to his brother, "This shouldn't be much of a problem. Yes, a few are strong, but nothing we can't deal with."_

_"The red-head is weakened and the young girl is no match at all." Arata added._

_"The old woman and the old man are for Naizen and the tall ugly human is pathetically weak."_

_"The ice demon is formidable, as is the Spirit Detective."_

_"But the short guy is distracted. Something seems to be bothering him."_

_"We'll let them decide. No matter what they can't win." Arata patted his brother's shoulder and smiled._

_"Will you two shut the hell up already?" Hojo bellowed in annoyance._

_"Temper, temper, detective. Such a loud mouth you have." Arata teased and smirked._

_"I accept." Hikaru unsheathed his katana and stepped forward. This was the outlet he was looking for._

_"Not without me you don't." Hojo stepped up next to Hikaru who gave an angry growl and glared sideways at the detective, "A two on two battle is fair, Hikaru. It'll make things go faster. We haven't got time to waste."_

_"Hn, just stay out of my way, detective." Hikaru snarled._

_"Did you here that, brother? They don't have time to waste. They want this fight to go fast."_

_Arata dodged quickly as Hikaru went from where he was to in front of the wolf demon in less than a few seconds. The older wolf brother barely managed to dodge the clean swipe of the katana's blade. The demon launched a series of kicks at Hikaru's midsection, all of which he was able to avoid._

_Hikaru's fist connected solidly with the forehead of the other brother sending him stumbling quite a few feet and fighting to regain his balance as Hikaru rushed foraward, his katana raised and ready to strike. Arata performed a carefully placed backflip before leaping over Hikaru's head and behind him. As Hikaru turned back, Arata's knee met with his chin and he fell backwards._

_"It's amusing to fight someone as distracted as you. Your heart isn't into this fight. Just where is your heart right now?" Arata chuckled at his own comments and Hikaru growled. He was not amused by the wolf demon's comments._

_"Shut up." he stood quickly. There was nothing worse than having an enemy taunting you and Hikaru swore that this foolish wolf was enjoying his dilemma. Just what was his dilemma?_

_He charged the older demon again and threw punch after punch, some connecting, some missing. Either way, Hikaru knew the demon was beginning to tire. He could see it in the wolf's brown eyes._

_"You have such determination, runt. Where is this energy coming from? Are you desperate to rescue the girl Naizen has taken captive? She has such beautful features for a human, you know." Arata jumped back and finally withdrew his own sword, "Time to play fair, I guess."_

_They charged each other this time, steel clashing with steel. Sparks flew and the two demons pulled back only to surge forth once again._

_She was there again. On his mind even as he fought a slightly challenging battle with Arata. Why? Why was she always there, even at times when he needed to focus on a life or death battle? What the hell was his problem?_

_He dodged and snarled loudly and angrily. It couldn't be. It can't be. He tried to assure himself that it wasn't true, but it was useless. With one more feral growl and a very clear opening, Hikaru's katana sliced cleanly and with intense force through the upper torso of the wolf, nearly cutting him in half. His face blatently showed his anger and frustration. Damn it all...he had fallen in love!_

_"Arata!" Reijiro paused in his hand to hand battle with Hojo to rush to his brother's side._

_"Hey!" Hojo shouted in protest. He had been having fun using the younger wolf demon as a punching bag. His fun was short lived a few seconds later as Hikaru didn't hesitate to slay the younger brother as well, "That's no fair!"_

_"Hojo, let him alone." Akio put his hand on Hojo's shoulder, "He's not in a very good mood and I wouldn't piss him off more than he already is."_

_"You have to admit, that did go quicker than expected." Touya sighed._

_"I think he figured it out." Akio said quietly to Touya and the ice demon nodded._

_"Yeah, I think so too."_

_On the path up ahead of the group, Naizen appeared. His expression showed nothing, not even remorse for his defeated generals. It was Hana who saw him first and Kage affirmed it. The demon on the path was the one who was holding Selena captive. To Kage, Naizen looked exactly the same, but his energy felt way stronger than when he first had faced them._

_Naizen eyed his soon-to-be opponents with interest. To him the upcoming battle was going to be easy. His enemies were worn out and injured. His generals had done exactly what he had wanted them to do._

_Without anymore concern, Naizen turned from the group and vanished into the darkness of the path. Hikaru narrowed his eyes and growled lowly. He became a quick blur soon after in his pursuit of Naizen._

_"No, Hikaru!" Hojo yelled as he watched his teammate chase after Naizen. It was pointless. Hikaru wasn't going to listen to him._

_"Stupid fool!" Kage yelled, "We haven't any time to waste! That boy can't fight him alone!"_

_"He's right. We need to go and fast." Genkai nodded and started a hurried pace up the path._

_"He's more affected than I assumed he would be." Akio replied, "Let's go. Best not to waste anymore time."_

_He entered the compund without any trouble. The whole place was empty and quiet. Hikaru snuck around quietly, leaving his energy low enough to not be detected._

_He rounded the hallway, peeking into the closest room. It's dim lights and circular shape aside, Hikaru noticed a solitary throne-like chair and the nearly naked, pink haired girl lying unconscious next to it. She looked unharmed from where he was, but he wouldn't be satisfied until he gave a closer examination._

_He watched from a distance as the fire demon entered his throne room. With stealth he made his way undetected to the same location. He entered just as the demon knelt down and touched his prize. Now he couldn't have that. He'd have to make him pay._


	21. Hikaru and Kage die

_She looked unharmed, untouched by Naizen. There wasn't a bruise or scratch anywhere that he could see. He gave a light, almost inaudible sigh as he reached out to touch her._

_"Selena, wake up." his fingers barely grazed her shoulder when he was flung back forcefully._

_"Leave your filthy hands off of her." Naizen knelt next to Selena and ran his claws across her bare arm, "You are not worthy to touch such a delicate prize."_

_"She is not a prize." Hikaru growled, unsheathing his katana and starting forward._

_"Are you that stupid? You charge at me now and I can easily snap her pretty little neck." Naizen grinned maliciously as Hikaru stopped. Naizen ran his hand across the back of Selena's neck in a taunting gesture to just how quickly he could kill her, "Stick around. You're not the one I want to fight first. No, this little beauty has a friend I have to take care of first. Then I'll gladly take you and your friends on."_

_"You won't get away with this." Hikaru sheathed his katana._

_"Is that so?" Naizen rose to his feet. The rest of his guests had arrived, "If I am to die here, which I doubt will happen, I'll just make sure to kill Kage and his little girl first."_

_Naizen raised his palm at the group. A burst of hot, strong wind blasted them backwards. With lightning quick movements, Naizen snatched Kage and dragged him back to where Selena was still lying._

_"Take a good look at her, Kage. My little prize, my secret treasure. I'm going to enjoy stealing away her innocence." he sneered as Kage struggled._

_"Let my daughter go, Naizen. You have me. Isn't that enough?" Kage pleaded, but to no avail._

_With a devilish laugh Naizne threw Kage to the ground. His eyes sparkled playfully as Selena stirred and opened her beautiful crimson eyes, eyes that filled with confusion when she her father before her, at the feet of who could only be Naizen._

_"Oh, you're finally awake, my beautiful prize. Just in time to watch them die while trying to save you." Naizen smirked and addressed the others, "None of you are leaving here alive. The last life I'll take when I'm finished here will be your beautiful wife, Kage. I'll take her after I force her to watch each of your young offspring get slaughtered."_

_"Let me go!" Selena screamed and pulled against the chains binding her. She could feel her spirit energy being supressed by the chains._

_"You heard her, Naizen. Release her, you have no way to escape." Hojo gave a warning as he stepped closer. Another blast of energy from Naizen's palm sent Hojo stumbling back._

_"Hojo!" Selena screamed and pulled harder against her chains._

_"Now where was I?" Naizen turned and faced Selena and Kage, "That's right."_

_Naizen grasped Kage by the throat and lifted him into the air._

_"Put him down!" Selena continued to fight against the chains._

_"You've grown old and pathetic, Kage." Naizen tightened his hold on Kage's throat, his claws just piercing the skin, "You were foolish to let me live. You tricked me last time, Kage. This time you won't be able to do that. I'll make sure of it."_

_With that said, Naizen's claws extended and pierced through the flesh of Kage's throat. Kage's eyes glanced over to Selenar, her expression frozen from fear, her eyes swelling with tears._

_"No!" she wailed as Naizen dropped her brother to the floor. She couldn't see his face, but she knew from his chest not moving that he was dead._

_"Be patient, my love." He turned from her and faced the others, "I have to dispose of them before I get to you."_

_"You sick bastard! Release me and fight me you fucking coward!" Selena pulled harder and harder, but the chains refused to break._

_"Your time will come, my love."_

_"Stop calling her that." Hikaru growled while taking out his katana and clutching it tightly, "You have no right to say that."_

_"What's your problem, little demon?" Naizen allowed Hikaru to get closer, but he was not afraid, "You have such an intense burning in your eyes. You wouldn't happen to care for the human girl?"_

_Hikaru rushed forward, attacking Naizen with his katana. He thrust the sword forward, Naizen dodged it easily. Naizen reached for the fire demon and Hikaru jumped back._

_"Hikaru, be careful." Hojo gave a warning._

_"Hn. Shut up, Hojo." Hikaru spat._

_The fight between Hikaru and Naizen continued. Each of them slashing and clawing at each other, dodging often and at times being injured when they didn't didge fast enough._

_Hikaru went forth, once again attempting to thrust his katana into Naizen's chest. Naizen dodged and grabbed the unsuspecting fire demon._

_"I'm tired of playing games, little one." he forced Hikaru to drop his weapon, "You will be the second one to perish."_

_His claws tore through the flesh and bones of Hikaru's chest. He creamed in agony and heard his own anguish echoed by Selena's screams. He wished he had never had to hear such pain come from her lips._

_His body became limp. Naizen gave a smug look to Selena before tossing Hikaru across the room and turning to the others._

_"Two down. Who's next?" Naizen was enjoying the pure look of disbelief etched on the faces of his enemies._

_Selena stared, horrified at Hikaru's lifeless body that Naizen had carefully tossed across the room. They were gone. Her father and Hikaru. She struggled against the chains again, feeling anger and hatred boiling in her veins. She pulled harder as Naizen stepped towards Genkai, pushing the others away from her as he did._

_One cuff holding he right wrist snapped, the left snapping just seconds later. She undid the chain around her neck and then the one connected around her stomach. She stood, glaring at the back of Naizen's head. Her energy flared, what she had lost from her fight with Hikaru a couple days before returned to her doubled._

_"Your next fight is with me." She charged him and landed a hard kick to the back of his head. Naizen stumbled forward and dropped to his knees from the force._

_"You have no patience girl." he rose to his feet, "No matter, I'll take you now then."_

_"Selena, please be careful!" Touya yelled out. She heard him, but made no acknowledgement. Nothing would distract her from getting her revenge._

_"You took them from me." she said lowly and angrily, "You had no right to them from me!"_

_"I'll allow you to join them then so you won't be so lonely."_

_"Your fight ends here!" Selena yelled, her spirit daggers forming._

_"Let's see if Hiei's daughter is more capable of a good fight than her dead friend."_

_"Genkai, is it possible for her to do this? Can she defeat him?" Hana asked quietly._

_"I don't think so. His energy is far stronger than hers. She's gonna have to think carefully on this one." Genkai answered._

_"The second she starts to falter I'm going in." Touya stated._

_"I second that." Arata nodded, agreeing very much with the ice demon._

_"You're slow, my love." Naizen blocked another attack Selena threw at him and backhanded her. He was toying with her. She could tell. This pissed her off more._

_"The first thing I'm going to do when I get my hands on you is castrate you for calling me your love." she rose to her feet and slipped to the side as Naizen threw a punch in her direction, then managed a one-handed back flip to dodge his kick._

_"You'll have to get your hands on me first, my love."_

_"It looks like you're the one having problems getting a grasp, Naizen."_

_He growled, his beady black eyes turning a bright shade of orange. With a small "eep", Selena took a couple steps back. She wasn't expecting Naizen's boost in power._

_He fixed his eyes on the human girl. The urge to take her innocence no longer resided in his mind. All he wanted was to taste her blood off his own claws. There was no way he was letting her escape alive._

_She moved as quickly as she could when she saw his claws spring forward. She cried out in pain as her shoulder became pinned to the wall._

_"I've got you now." he snarled, baring his fangs to her as he leaned forward._

_"Selena!" Touya yelled and started forward, Arata right behind him._

_"Get your damn hands off of her!" he yelled._

_"So many males willing to die for you. Why is that? You're nothing but a disgusting human girl." Naizen glanced back at the oncoming trouble._

_"Hands off, buddy." Hojo and Akio were making their way forward now as well._

_"You're all so weak!" Naizen sent out another blast, this one much stronger than before._

_"Stop it!" Selena screamed. She stabbed her dagger into the clawed hand holding her to the wall. Naizen barely flinched at the pain she caused. He turned his attention back to her and roughly grabbed her face with his free hand._

_"Foolish girl." he said calmly, "What do you expect to do with that pitiful weapon?"_

_She saw the quick blurr of black darting towards them out of the corner of her eye. Her heart leapt and Naizen glared at her._

_"I'm not the one who is foolish." she cooed and gave a seductive smile._

_"Is that so?"_

_"Yes, it is." Hikaru spoke behind him. As Naizen turned, Hikaru sliced his head clean off his shoulders. Naizen's body slumped backwards to the floor, dragging Selena with it. She cried out as the claws in her shoulder pushed in more and then again as Hikaru lifted her up and into his arms._

_She took a few moments to breathe before pulling out of Hikaru's warm embrace. She knelt next to her brotherr and rested her head on his chest._

_"I'm so sorry, Kage." Tears spilled, but she could care less, "If I had been more careful, you wouldn't have had to comehere. How am I going to tell her? How can I tell her that you're dead? This is all my fault."_

_"Don't blame yourself." Genkai knelt next to her, "He knew he might not make it out alive. Misao knew it as well. Whether Naizen took you or not, Kage was going to have to confront him. Naizen took the coward's way when he had you abducted."_

_"I can't tell her."_

_"Then I will." Genkai answered and gave a small smile as Selena looked at her, "Why don't you head back to the temple with the boys and I'll have Koenma send Gina there to heal you?"_

_"But..."_

_"You need your rest, Selena. Misao will know that."_

_"She's right, Selena." Touya knelt on the other side of her._

_"Touya..." she hugged him tightly and cried harder._

_"It'll be alright, sweetie. You'll see." he stroked her back and glanced up at Hikaru. Hikaru's eyes were focused away from them. Touya nudged her slightly and made a nodding motion towwards the fire demon._

_Her eyes widdened. Hikaru was alive! He was standing there injured very badly, but alive. She smiled a thank you to Touya before standing. She walked over to Hikaru._

_"Are you alright?" she stopped before him and touched his cheek with her hand, smudging a bit of her blood across it._

_The concern in her eyes made Hikaru feel like he was drowning. There was so much emotion radiating in her crystal blue eyes._

_"I'm fine." his eyes re-focused onto the floor._

_"I'm glad." she smiled and more tears fell. His eyes re-met hers and all he could manage was a short nod, but the expression on his face let everyone know that he was truly relieved to see her safe._

_Hana opened a portal allowing Genkai and Touya to go through to see Misao. Touya carrying Kage's body in his arms._

_Shortly after they entered, Selena looked around. The room was starting to spin and she knelt down._

_"Selena?" Hikaru knelt next to her._

_"I'm alright. Just a little dizzy." she replied. She closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths. She felt herself being lifted into Akio's arms, "Thanks, Fox."_

_"Just rest, Selena." He said softly and motioned to Hana to proceed._

_"You guys go on ahead. I'll go see Koenma and bring Gina to the temple." Hana said quietly._

_"Thank you, Hana." Selena gave a soft sigh before slipping into a deep sleep._

_"The poor thing." Hana frowned as she opened the portal, "Take good care of her until Gina and I can get there. The rest of you should get some rest as well."_

_They entered and Akio stopped briefly by Hana._

_"Be careful and hurry to the temple." he kissed her cheek and smiled as her cheeks went from a faint pink to a fuschia._

_"I will." she managed to answer and he nodded before stepping through the portal._

_Genkai knocked gently on the door before entering. Misao met her in the hallway._

_"Master Genkai, is something wrong? Did something happen?" Misao hurried forward._

_"Yes, Misao. You should sit down." Genkai motioned to the chair and Misao sat, looking up as Touya entered with Kage in his arms._

_"Kage..." his name left her lips just seconds before a sob escaped._

_"He suceeded in helping to rescue Selena, but Naizen killed him." Genkai explained, "I'm sorry, Misao."_

_"He knew he wasn't coming back. He just wanted to make sure she was safe." Misao sat next to Kage's body after Touya had set him down, "Thank you for bringing him home."_

_"Misao..." Touya looked down at her._

_"Selena...how is she? Is she okay?"_

_"She's hurt, but she'll recover from her injuries. She stood up to Naizen for as long as she could."_

_"Did she kill him?"_

_"No, Hikaru did, but Selena had him distracted. We almost thought that we had lost him as well. Naizen hurt him pretty bad when he was trying to save Selena."_

_"But he's alright?"_

_"Yeah, he'll be fine. He's a demon. He'll heal quickly."_

_"That's good. I'm sure Selena is happy that he is okay."_

_"I think they're both relieved."_

_"Thank you, both of you." MIsao bowed her head to them, "Your father shall be returning here soon, Touya. He will help me with any preparations."_

_"I'll stay with you anyway. To help with the children." Touya smiled softly, "Genkai, please send my love to Selena and tell her to get well soon."_

_"I will, Touya. I'm sure she'll be returning home as soon as she is better." Genkai rose and opened the communicator, "Hana, everything is set here. I'm ready to return home now."_

_"Right, I'm on my way, Genkai." Hana's voice replied. Genkai turned back to Misao and Touya, "He was a great man, Misao. I will miss him dearly. I'm glad Selena has so many of his good traits."_

_"Me too." Misao nodded and then waved her good-byes to Genkai as she stepped through the portal that appeared behind her._

_Genkai returned to her temple. It was very quiet, but the silence did not bother her. She made her way towards her daughter's bedroom and peeked inside. Gina gave her an encouraging smile and joined Genkia in the hall._

_"She's going to be fine. Her wounds aren't serious." Gina filled her in with the good news._

_"That's good to hear. Thank you for taking care of her."_

_"It's no problem, Master Genkai. I was glad to help her. She is a good friend."_

_Once the room was silent, Hikaru slipped in through the open window. Although Naizen was defeated, he wasn't taking any chances in leaving her alone. He settled in at the end of her bed and began a long night of reflecting back on his newly discovered feelings. He knew how he felt, but she hadn't given him any clue as to how she felt. What if she didn't feel the same way? He groaned and held his head in his hands. This was going to be one long and tiring night._


	22. One night

_**thank you to brokenredwings for bringing this to my attention. yes the father was a typo now it is fixed. so now let me clear one more thing up. Selena ISISISISIS Hiei's daughter( if you havent read the prequal i sudjest you do. then this story will make alot more sense) but as stated Kage is her brother. no, techinally he is not her brother, but in my life I consider most of my guy friends, my brothers. I guess alot of people dont do that, any ways its stated in one of the chapters taht Kage is not her brother, but he has always treated her as a little sister and vice versa. she referrs to him as her brother because thats what she sees him as. I hoped this helped!**_

_"She's still out?" Hojo eyed Akio as he entered the silent sitting room. Akio only nodded and took a seat next to him, "What is this now? Day three?"_

_"Well, Hojo , Selena lost a good amount of blood from that battle. I'm not surprised that she hasn't moved much." Akio replied quietly, "Genkai kicked Hikaru and myself out of her room. I think the girls are going to fix her up a bit."_

_"Fix her up?" Arata looked between his friends._

_"Yes, they were bringing her to the bathroom. I can only assume that they're going to clean her up."_

_"Sooo, where did Hikaru run off to? He's been very scarce since we returned here." Hojo asked quietly. Inside he was actually getting a kick out of Hikaru's new anguish._

_"He's on the roof. I'm sure once Selena's back in her room he'll come down to stay with her."_

_"It really hit him hard, eh? This whole love thing?" Hojo rubbed the back of his neck, "Maybe one of us should talk to him?"_

_"I've already tried, Hojo . He just tells me to shut up. He's never felt like this before and he's confused. The feeling will pass, maybe after he talks to her."_

_"Yeah, if she ever wakes up." Arata muttered, which earned him a well deserved lump on his skull from Hojo ._

_"She will wake up." Hojo glared daggers at his friend who held his hands up in defeat._

_Akio chuckled at the display. Deep down he was happy that everything had turned out for the best. They had a new friend and ally in Etusko. That bond would be hard to sever and it wasn't likely that any of them would even try to. The way he saw it, Selena was just the newest member of their team. Even if she chose to go back home to be with her Master Genkai, she was still part of the group._

_"Penny for your thoughts, Akio?" Hana giggled. She had been leaning down for almost a minute trying to get his attention. He snapped out of his daze and blushed. Hana straightened herself out and laughed openly at him. Hojo and Arata laughed as well. It wasn't everyday that Akio wasn't aware of his surroundings._

_"Earth to Akio! Come in Akio!" Hojo laughed harder and wiped a few tears from his eyes, "You were definitely out there, Akio!"_

_"Something bothering you?" Hana sat next to him and took his hand, "You know you can tell me anything."_

_"I was thinking about Selena." he answered, still giving death glares to the snickering boys next to him._

_"Selena?"_

_"Yes. I was reflecting upon how close she has gotten to each of us. She even managed to bring Touya closer to us too." Akio explained._

_"Yeah, who knew we'd ever be on the same team as that guy?" Arata nodded his head rapidly, "He's not a bad guy when you get to know him."_

_"Yes, I agree."_

_"So," Hojo leaned in closer and lowered his voice, "We know he loves her and all, but what about her? Do you think she likes him?"_

_"I think it's safe to assume so." Hana answered and leaned against Akio's shoulder._

_"How can you tell?"_

_"It's in a girl's nature to notice when their friends have a crush on someone. She glanced at him often when no one was looking."_

_"You're saying you noticed and you never told any of us?" Hojo feigned hurt and raised his eyebrow._

_"It was never any of your business and it's not my fault that you aren't observant enough to pick up these things."_

_"Hey!" Hoj oprotested while Arata snorted._

_Akio just laughed. He had seen it. His first clue had been the night at the club. She had been dancing with Touya and her eyes had met Hikaru's. It was all Akio had needed to know that there was an attraction between the two. He was certain that things would get out into the open between the two, just as soon as they were able to talk._

_It was later that evening during dinner that everyone realized that, yet again, Hikaru was not leaving Selena's room to join them. They figured he was probably perched on her window sill still deep within his own thoughts._

_Hikaru, however, was sitting comfortably at the end of her bed and very much lost within his own thoughts. He hadn't left her side much and when he had to, he did his best to avoid his teammates. Only Akio had tried to approach him and he had shrugged him off. He wasn't ready to talk to anybody about his current situation._

_She shifted slightly and Hikaru watched her movements. She pushed herself up onto her knees and climbed out of bed. She didn't notice that he was even in the room with her as she left. Hikaru used his jagan to follow her movements and stopped when he realized that her destination was the bathroom._

_She returned a few minutes later and without even glancing at Hikaru. She climbed back into bed and snuggled into her pillow with a faint smile on her lips. Once she was comfortable again her breathing evened out._

_He stared at her. She was so peaceful and beautiful while she slept and he couldn't pull his eyes away._

_He carefully edged closer and sat by her side. It was the closest he had dared to get to her since they had returned to the temple, but he couldn't wait any longer. He needed at least a small sign of how she felt._

_His fingers reached out and ever so gently he ran his knuckle along her cheek. Her skin was soft and warm and he loved it._

_Selena opened her eyes slowly and gazed sleepily at the demon leaning over her. She searched his eyes, expecting to see his usual cold piercing glare, but finding a much softer, warmer stare instead._

_Confused by the new emotions crossing Hikaru's face, she sat up and pulled away from him._

_"Hikaru?" he voice remained calm, "Why are you in my room?"_

_"Hn." He couldn't do it. He still wasn't ready to confront it. He stood quickly and started for the door. He needed to get out of there and fast. Her hands grasped his wrist and forced him to stop. He growled softly._

_"Please, Hikaru, I don't want to be alone." her voice was timid and he swallowed hard. He silently cursed himself again for being weak._

_"There is nothing to worry about now. No one is going to come and harm you." he replied, pulling his hand away from her grasp. He turned to walk away. He needed to escape._

_"Hikaru!" she cried his name and he froze. He could feel her take a few steps towards him. He turned slowly to face her again._

_His lips were met by hers and she used what strength she had left to pull him towards her. His eyes widened at the sudden contact. It felt right to him and he wanted to return the feelings she was conveying to him through such a simple gesture. A gesture that proved she felt the same as he did. He closed his eyes and gave in. He allowed himself to be engulfed by the raw emotion and passion she was sharing with him._

_She slid her hands up his back and up to gently press against his cheeks that had grown very warm. She was surprised, and pleased, that he had responded in such a positive manner. She half expected him to shove her away and call her a stupid girl._

_His tongue flicked lightly over her bottom lip, silently pleading for her to open more so he could deepen the intimate kiss. She parted her lips willingly and his tongue darted in, seeking her own._

_She heard his soft growl a second before he lifted her and carried her back to the bed. He laid her down, not removing his lips from hers and sliding to the side of her, his arms wrapped tightly around her, keeping her close, refusing to let go._

_She reached hesitantly for his shirt and tugged at it. She wanted him, even if it was only for one night. She needed to be with him. Hikaru broke the kiss by pulling back and staring down at her. Her eyes were half opened, but he could clearly see the lust contained in their depths. He couldn't break his gaze away._

_"Selena..." he whispered her name huskily and she blushed._

_"Please, Hikaru? I might never see you again." she pleaded softly and brushed her finger tips across his forehead._

_"Why is that?" he pulled back a bit more._

_"I'm returning home tomorrow to be with my Father and family" _

_He could only manage a short nod. He couldn't stop her from returning to her family, no matter how badly he wished he could. He watched as her gaze shifted out the window, a troubled expression crossing her face as she stared up at the bright moon and starry sky._

_"Selena, what is it?" he followed her gaze out the window as well._

_"I'm asking for too much, aren't I?" she said sadly, her eyes still not meeting his, "I understand if you do not want me, Hikaru. You don't have to. Just having you here right now, like this, is enough."_

_His fingers brushed over the small amount of uncovered flesh at her stomach. Her focus finally settled back on him._

_"Who said I didn't want you?"_

_"But..." he eyes went wide._

_He silenced her with a quick kiss and then nuzzled his head under her chin. He had things to say, he just couldn't while looking at her. Not yet anyway._

_"I can give you tonight." he replied calmly, "But taking you as my mate isn't the right thing to do. Our lives are much too complicated for that."_

_"I think that's the most I've ever heard you say, Hikaru." she teased and smiled playfully. Hikaru sat up and glared at her, but his eyes were far from cold._

_"Hn." he looked away. Here he was trying to be more open and honest with her and all she could do was tease him._

_"Aww! Don't be like that, Hikaru!" she pushed herself up and knelt next to him. She couldn't help but to giggle at his playful stubbornness. It was cute, but she'd never tell him that._

_Without warning, he lifted her into his strong arms, carrying her bridal style and looked out the window. With a quick leap he descended to the ground below and broke into a run. She rested her head against his shoulder and watched as the scenery blurred past her._

_"I wanted to get out of the temple." he gave a quick explaination. As he slowed down, Selena realized where he had brought her. The lone tree stood out dominantly under the moonlight._

_"Oh no, you didn't bring me here to fight again, did you?" Selena questioned through a fit of giggles. Hikaru dropped her from his arms and watched her land solidly on the ground below, "Oww!"_

_"Serves you right." Hikaru pushed her back against the ground and captured her lips in a heated kiss._

_There was no denying it any longer. Selena knew better now. She loved Hikaru, and she would continue to do so even if he didn't want her to. Though his current actions spurred her to believe that he, in at least some way, returned her feelings._

_He pulled back slowly to stare at her. Her eyes drifted open slowly._

_"Hm?" was all she could manage to get out. She was still in a daze over how wonderful that last kiss was._

_"Are you sure about this?" he wanted to make sure she was very certain about her choice before they continued. There was no going back._

_"I want this with you, Hikaru. Nothing will make me change my mind." she placed her hand against the back of his neck and drew him in for another kiss._

_Hojo wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at his teammates. They had all just witnessed Hikaru heading into the forest with Selena in his arms. Hana and Gina had erupted into giggles while the others had looked amongst each other. _

_"Should we follow?" Hojo smirked, glancing back in the direction Hikaru had vanished in._

_"That would be very unwise, Hojo . Hikaru would kill you quickly." Akio shook his head. He was still amused by the giggles coming from the girls._

_"I could take him."_

_"Hojo , he wants to be alone with her. Just let them be." Hana sighed happily._

_"Besides," Akio blushed slightly, "You wouldn't want to interrupt them in this particular situation."_

_"Huh?" Hojo pondered Akio's words and then blushed hard, "Oh!"_

_This only made Hana and Gina giggle more. Genkai hi her smile behind her hand and Akio and Arata chuckled at Hojo 's expression. Hojo shook it off and sat back down._

_"Who's up for a game of cards?" he laughed and the others were glad to join in._

_The Morning After _

_She tried to roll left first, then right, but no matter how hard she tried, her body wasn't moving. There was a soft chuckle above her and she scowled._

_"It's not funny!" she protested, "You're too warm!"_

_He released her and watched as she rose from the bed. She grabbed a clean towel and her hair brush._

_"Going somewhere?"_

_"Yes, I'm going to take a shower before the others wake up." Selena stretched, "You should get some more sleep. You must be tired from staying up the past couple of nights."_

_"I'm fine." he replied, though he was quite comfortable where he was lying, "Don't be too long."_

_"I'm going swimming when I'm done." she frowned a bit, but pushed the thoughts away and continued on out the door._

_The frown that had crossed her face didn't go unnoticed by Hikaru and he grumbled to himself as he sat up. He would join her that morning while she swam. He'd get the others to go as well._

_Akio was the easiest to wake up. It took only a few pokes through the mind link to stir the fox from his peaceful slumber. The girls were just as easy and Genkai had already been awake for a good hour._

_Hojo and Arata go it the worst. After either refused to budge, Hana and Gina were more than happy to dump ice cold water on them._

_"What's this about?" Hojo whined, "I was having such a nice dream!"_

_"Shut up and get dressed." Hikaru snapped before leaving the room._

_"What? Did I miss something?" Hojo looked to the others, "I thought he'd be in a better mood today."_

_"Selena is going home today, Hojo ." Akio said quietly, "Get some shorts on and come join us out at the pond. I think Hikaru wants us to spend time with her this morning before she leaves."_

_Hikaru watched her from a nearby tree. The only person that had joined her so far was his own sister. Gina sat quietly on the rock while Selena swam around. They made small talk about various things, including Arata's obvious crush on Gina._

_"He's a great guy." Selena nodded firmly, "If you need an ear he'll gladly give it!"_

_Gina giggled with the sudden image of Arata handing her one of his ears, and Selena gave the koorime a look of confusion._

_"I'm sorry." Gina said softly, her cheeks tinted pink, "It was just that, Kazuma handing me one of his ears just seemed really funny at the moment."_

_Selena giggled as well and climbed onto the rock next to Gina. She hadn't gotten to spend much time alone with Hikaru's sister and she was starting to regret it._

_"So, do you like him?" Selena tilted her head to the side and watched Gina's cheeks go from pink to red, "Is that a yes?"_

_"He's very sweet."_

_"That's true."_

_"He's understanding and caring."_

_"Those are true too." Selena smiled at the sparkle in Gina's eyes, "Ah, I know that look. You're already in love with him, aren't you?"_

_Hikaru nearly fell out of the tree as Gina nodded and confirmed her feelings. Selena snorted and looked up at him._

_"Huh?" Gina looked up too._

_"Why don't you just come down and join us shorty?" she called up. He turned his head and ignored her, "Suit yourself!"_

_"Good morning, ladies." Akio's smooth voice called from behind them._

_Selena turned to see everyone standing there. She smiled at them and fought back the tears swelling in her eyes. She turned away quickly and jumped into the water._

_"Come on in! The water is perfect!" she called out and laughed as Arata shoved Hojo in head first. He was about to protest when Selena jumped onto his back, "You're stronger than the fox, right?"_

_"Stronger than Akio? Hell yes!" he boasted proudly and arrogantly, much like she knew he would._

_"Do you think we can beat him and his girlfriend in a game of chicken?"_

_"Oh yes, definitely!" Hojo pointed his finger at Akio, "Let's go plant boy! Me and Selena versus you and Hana! Let's go!"_

_"Unless the two of you are...dare I say...chicken?" Selena taunted and stuck her tongue out at Hana. Using her own strength, she settled herself onto Hojo 's shoulders._

_"You're on!" Hana yelled and started shoving Akio into the water. Everyone laughed at the couple and Akio blushed._

_"I'm afraid, Miss Selena, that you're going to regret this." Akio cast his emerald eyes on Selena and she stuck her tongue out at him as well._

_"Prove it, fox." she retorted and waited as Hana settled onto Akio's shoulders. They had a huge height advantage over them, but Selena wasn't worried, "You have to know by now, Hana, I'm not one to hold back."_

_"Then I won't hold back either!" Hana answered, "We're going to win!"_

_Selena smirked and whispered something to Hojo before she righted herself and the match began._

_Hana reached for Selena's arms and was stopped as Selena grabbed her wrists. From below, Hojo avoided Akio's hands, grabbed Hana's feet and gave a strong shove upwards as Selena pushed out. Hana fell backwards into the pond as Hojo and Selena raised their arms in victory, a victory that was short lived when Akio shoved them both over._

_They played around for most of the morning, but the time for her to leave was drawing closer and closer, and the more she thought about it, the sadder she felt. The emotions were easily picked up on by her friends, but they continued to smile for her and give her strength. After all, they could still keep in touch with each other in one way or another._

_Lunch was wonderful and Selena sat next to her Master Genkai. She had forgiven Genkai for all the secrets that had been kept from her. She had no problems having two Master Genkais to love and she was sure both of her Master Genkais didn't mind sharing a daughter either._

_Somewhere during lunch, Hojo initiated a food fight by chucking a spoon full of peas across the table, pelting both Arata and Hana. Both retaliated immediately and more then just peas flew through the air. Selena ducked behind Genkai to avoid a clump of something she didn't recognize._

_She laughed as best as she could, but deep down she hurt. If things had gone better against Naizen, and her brother had lived, she would gladly spend more time with them. But Fate handed her something different and she was prepared to return home and protect those in her family that needed it._

_Once lunch was over and the others departed to clean themselves up, Selena silently retreated to her room on her own to pack._

_She laid her items across her bed. She hadn't brought much to begin with. Clothing, note pads, a few videos Genkai had given her to study. Everything would fit easily into the two bags she had brought with her._

_The last items she hesitated to pack and instead she settled on her bed and thumbed through the many intricate drawings she had done. She had secretly caught several moments from her stay at the temple in her sketch pad. Some during practice battles when she was supposed to be concentrating on one thing and instead drawing something completely different. She had caught everyone in the temple at least once, a few times for a certain fire demon. Selena blushed as she eyed the half-naked drawing of Hikaru she had done, memories of the night before flooding her mind. She'd never regret the intimacy they had gotten to share in just that one night. She would always have a special place in her heart for him and she liked to believe that his heart had a place for her as well._

_"Selena?" Genkai knocked softly and peered into her daughter's room, "The cab is waiting. It's time for you to go."_

_Selena shut her sketch pad with a soft sigh then tucked it away in her bag. This was it. The moment to say goodbye to her new friends._

_"Alright. I'm coming." she said quietly, placing her backpack over her shoulders and lifting the second bag, "Best not to keep the driver waiting too long."_

_The group was waiting for her in the front hallway, all except for Hikaru. Selena began to wonder where he was until Hana clutched her shoulders, sobbed and drew her in for a tight hug._

_"Selena, I hope things go well for you." Hana said between her tears and sobs._

_"Thank you, Hana." her eyes were beginning to swell with tears of her own, "I hope that everything goes well with you too, especially between you and Akio."_

_Hana pulled back and Selena embraced Gina next. The poor girl was trying hard to fight back her tears, but failed, and several tiny gems hit the floor. Selena silently wondered if Hikaru's tears would do the same, not that Hikaru would ever cry._

_"I wish we could have talked more." Gina replied sadly._

_"Me too, Gina." Selena pulled back and Gina handed her a gem, "For me?"_

_"Yes, please take it."_

_"It's so beautiful! Thank you!" Selena smiled and then reached into a pocket of her backpack. From there she pulled out the purple ribbon that she used often to tie back her hair. She held it out to Gina, "I know it's not much, but I want you to have it."_

_"Thank you very much, Selena." Gina accepted the ribbon._

_Selena stepped before Hojo next and she laughed before pulling him into a hug._

_"The thing I'll miss most about you, Hojo , is your big mouth." Selena frowned as she pulled back, "You're a wonderful person, Hojo . Thank you for coming to help rescue me. It really meant a lot to me that you came."_

_"I'd do it again if I had to." Hojo gave a sweet smile, "I'd do it in a heartbeat."_

_"Thank you."_

_"You take good care of yourself and your family."_

_"I will," she nodded and faced Arata. Tears fell from her eyes as she tried to find the right words to say, "I can't even express to you, Arata, how much you mean to me. Through my whole time here you provided me an outlet when I needed to talk and have someone there to listen. You helped me so much through all of this and you as well put your life on the line to save me. You are one of my truest friends, Arata. I want you to know that."_

_He pulled her in and hugged her tightly, his own eyes filled with tears._

_"You can call me whenever you need to, Selena. Just because we won't see each other, that doesn't mean we can't keep in touch."_

_"I will call you. I promise."_

_She pulled away and turned to face Akio. She hugged him quickly._

_"Selena..."_

_"Take care of her." Selena interrupted him, "She needs that."_

_"I will." he nodded and smiled._

_"And Him too. Although he'll deny that he needs it, I know he does."_

_"I promise to do my best." Akio replied, "You take care of yourself."_

_"You too, fox." She smirked before stepping next to her Master Genkai and facing the whole group, "Thank you. All of you. It is because of you that I am still here. I am very grateful to have made friends with all of you."_

_"He's waiting for you outside." Genkai nudged her gently, "I expect a phone call from you when you get home. I will see you in a few days."_

_"Yes, of course, Master Genkai." Selena nodded and then bowed to her friends, "Well, this is it. Goodbye everyone."_

_He was waiting on the front steps when she came out. Their eyes didn't meet and he took the bag from her hands. She didn't protest._

_He had a million things he wanted to tell her, none of which would come out. He cursed at himself for not being able to open up to her. He just couldn't find the emotional strength._

_"It's going to be hard to return home knowing he's not going to be there." Selena said sadly, breaking the silence between them._

_"You have your fatherthere. That's the reason you're returning, isn't it?"_

_"Yes, that's where I belong." Selena replied, keeping her eyes forward, _

_"I guess you have a point."_

_They walked the rest of the stairs in silence. Neither of them wanted to leave the other, but each of them understood. They couldn't be together. They had their own difficult lives to contend with and it would be wrong to ask that one of them give up their life to be with the other._

_They stopped at the bottom of the temple's steps. A taxi driver waited patiently for Selena to climb in._

_"I guess this is it." she said softly and faced him, "Thank you for everything, Hikaru."_

_"Hn." he looked away blushing. She giggled, her hand coming up to brush against his cheek. He closed his eyes and pressed his hand to hers, wanting to hold onto the moment for as long as he could. She leaned up and kissed his lips softly before withdrawing and started for the taxi. He opened his eyes to watch her, to memorize everything about her that he could._

_She turned to look back one last time, her beautiful blue eyes full of tears. Her sadness spilled from her eyes even through the sweetest smile she could muster. Hikaru could feel his heart ache while watching her._

_She climbed into the waiting taxi and waved to him. This was it. He knew as the car drove off that it was likely he'd never see her again. He waved back to her and just watched as the car disappeared on the horizon._

_"I love you, Selena. Kami, help me, but I do." he whispered to the wind and turned back to the stairs._

_He rejoined his teammates, his sister and Genkai back at the top. He scowled at the sympathetic looks they were giving him. He didn't need their pity._

_"Good news, Hikaru!" Hojo chuckled, "I have an outlet for your aggression! Koenma has a new mission for us! Are you up to hunting some low level demons?"_

_Hojo got his answer the second the evil glint surfaced in Hikaru's crimson eyes followed by his usual sadistic smirk. Yeah, he was up for it!_

so thats the end of the story, they went to bed and were ready for whatever happened tommrow


	23. The mission begins

The next morning was foggy and muggy. A combination that Selena felt matched her mood perfectly that morning. They were already at the specified docks waiting for the boat that would take them to their destination. Hojo had mentioned that the trip to the Dark Tournament had been very much similar to what they were doing now. Selena didn't really pay much attention to their conversations and took the time to rest. She hadn't slept well at all the night before due to images of her friends and their burned down bodies. She silently swore she'd definatley bring it with Ranku.

She had avoided talking to Akio that morning who had approached her just shortly before breakfast. She just stared at him through his apology and then walked away without saying a word. He had stood there, his aura clearly showing he was disappointed. His aura hadn't changed much since they had left her Father's house, but she knew it would once she spoke to him before they reached their final destination for the day. That was if he separated himself from Hikaru's side long enough for her to talk to him. She wanted nothing to do with the hybrid at the moment. She would deal with him later. She was sure of it.

"Are you just gonna pout all day?" Touya nudged her lightly. He knew she was stressed out and all the reasons for it too. Things would be out soon and he was mentally preparing himself to help Selena through the whole thing. He would stick by her side no matter what happened. He was certain that Jin felt the exact same way he did.

"Yes, perhaps I will." Selena muttered dryly. She felt she had every right to pout. Nothing would go their way during the oncoming fights. Kumanosuke would see to it that they were exhausted by the time the finals came around; if they made it that far.

"You shouldn't worry. Rest assured, we will win."

"I can only hope you're right." She pressed her forehead against his shoulder and released a soft, sad sigh. "After this, nothing will ever be the same."

"As we expected, Selena. It can't be helped."

"It fucking sucks." He snickered at her words and she punched his stomach weakly. "So not funny."

"Have faith in us, Selena. In all of us." He hugged her, holding her small body tightly to his own. He kept his gaze away from Hikaru, knowing already that the short demon was angry and jealous of his actions, not that he actually cared what Hikaru thought. He loved Selena, and he'd tell that right to Hikaru's face if he had too. True, the love he felt for her wasn't the same as what Hikaru felt, but it was more of the sibling love kind. But it proved he'd do anything and everything for her if it came down to it. Including taking her and marking her as his own mate before Kumanosuke could.

The boat ride was lasting far longer than any of them liked and Selena was growing rather frustrated that Akio wouldn't step away from Hikaru for even a second. There were also the pointed looks her mother kept giving her, clearly trying to get Selena to speak up on what they were heading into. Selena growled as best as she could for a small human female and turned away to look out onto the water. There was no land for miles still and a small part of her was tempted to dive into the deep water and let herself drown. Knowing that was stupid and would not solve a thing, she opted to just lean against the railing and sulk some more.

Genkai cleared her throat, gaining everyone's attention, except Selena's. She sneered at the girl's back which made Touya nudge her to get her to focus. Selena grumbled and swatted his hands away from her person, muttering a few choice profanities at the ice demon. She turned and shot her trainer a glare, clearly one that said I'm not ready.

"I don't care. We need to discuss this now. You know that. It's best to be prepared." Genkai ignored the heated glare from the girl and sat down on a wooden crate.

"I am prepared." Selena mumbled, settling on the other side of the crate Genkai occupied. "I'll only say as much as I want. Other things will be dealt with later when the time comes."

Her words made those uninformed a bit more curious and they drew closer to her, waiting for her to continue. She scrunched her face for a few moments while she got the wording set in her head. She wanted to make it easy and understandable for all present. She didn't want to answer too many questions afterwards.

"Any day now, Selena." Hojo muttered and she maintained her calmness instead of lashing out and whacking him like she really felt like doing to him at the moment.

"I know nothing of Ranku's team. Please understand that first and foremost. It bothers me, but we'll have to deal with it when it comes up. Ranku, however, I know little about." She leaned forward and rested her chin on her knees, "He's roughly six foot eight. Strong, muscular build and rather long, black hair. He's known for his ability to hypnotize his opponents by merely catching their gaze. He's a snake demon linked to cobras. His venom can be deadly depending on the dosage he injects and his speed is far beyond average. In our group alone I'd say that Jin and Hikaru are likely the only two that might be able to keep up with him, not that that will matter any. He only wants to face me and he'll see to it that he does."

"Then what exactly is this mission about?" Akio questioned. It was a question a few of them had on their minds. It wasn't making much sense.

"For me." Selena answered plainly. "Yes, I know it's sad and pathetic, but Ranku is dead set to have me as his mate. As I only found out yesturday." she glared, annoyed that Koenma had kept this information from her this long "The only things that can stop his attempts are if someone kills him or if in some bazaar twist of fate, I chose a mate of my own. Personally, I like the idea of chopping the guys head off."

"This whole massacre was set up just so he could make you his? It sounds like bullshit to me." Hojo stated bluntly, "If he wanted you that badly he could have just taken you and left the innocent people out of it."

"Where's the fun in that?" Selena replied, clearly annoyed that Hojo thought so little of her. "You're not seeing it from his angle...not that you would. You're too stupid."

"What?" He bristled at her statement.

"Ranku knows that there are other factors that have to be dealt with before he can even take me. There will be others he has to defeat and kill." She turned her head away from them, "This is a game to him and I am to be his prize if he wins. He cares not for anyone else pulled into this."

"What will happen if you die before you face him?"

"Holy fuck, Hojo! You keep speaking as if I'm not capable of handling myself! Do you really think that little of me?" She snapped at him, pleased that he jolted backwards at her outburst and that Izaioi took it upon herself to smack him in the back of his head.

"It was just a stupid question! There's no reason to freak out on me!"

"The answer to your question, dumbass, is that my friends, and my very small family, will die. As you can see, I have no choice but to stay alive and do as he wants until I kill him." She hopped down from the crate, intending to leave before she had to answer anymore questions.

"So that is all you know? Or is there more that you're keeping from us?" She should have known Hikaru wouldn't keep his mouth shut. She turned slightly to face him.

"As I said, I'll only say as much as I want."

"Leaving out important information about the enemy is not a wise thing to do when the lives of your teammates are at stake."

"Believe me, the information I have left out has nothing to do with any of them." She spat and walked off before he could speak again.

Hikaru stared at her quickly retreating form, confusion clouding his mind. She had said that it has nothing to do with any of them. Her wording of her last sentence clearly meant that what ever it was that she was keeping from them, had nothing to do with them, but did have something to do with him. He wasn't sure what she was getting at, but he knew he'd find out soon enough.

It had been a long three hours before any passenger aboard the boat had seen any sign of land. So when the shore of the tournament's location came into view, they were more than anxious to get onto land. That much was clear when they heard Selena begging Jin to take her to land before the boat got there. The wind demon calmly explained that it would be best that she waited with the others. She didn't want to wait, especially not another full hour before they were even able to dock.

Selena slumped against the railing. The nervousness and unease she had been feeling was starting to hit her full force and if she didn't reign it in and control her emotions, she was going to break down. She needed to avoid that situation at all costs. She needed to be strong for this.

"I am not an egg. I'm not that fragile." She muttered, moving to sit with her legs crossed and her arms resting lightly on her knees. She closed her eyes and took a few deep, relaxing breaths. "I will not break. I am not weak."

"Selena?" The soft voice of Akio made her stop her barely begun meditation and look up into his worried emerald eyes.

"Hey, fox." She smiled, and he seemed momentarily startled that she had responded to him in a nice manner. She patted the floor next to her and he took a seat. "I've been wanting to talk to you all day."

"You could have approached me at any time."

"Yes, I suppose I could have, if Hikaru hadn't been standing next to you all day." Selena explained and frowned, "I can't be near him, so I'm glad you came to me instead. I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I could give you a million excuses, but none of it would make my actions yesterday right. I was cranky and I should never have hit you. Please, forgive me, Akio?"

"You don't have to apologize for that. I deserved it."

"Idiot." She slapped a hand to her forehead and groaned, "Just say that you accept my apology."

"I can't. You have nothing to apologize for. I was the one at fault yesterday."

"You fucking jerk! Just accept it!"

"No." He remained calm despite Selena's growing frustration. "As a matter of fact, I apologize for my actions yesterday."

"Oh...no you didn't just do that." She slumped forward a little and gave a pathetic little whine. Akio chuckled in amusement. "Fine! I accept your stupid apology! Now accept mine or I'll never talk to you again!"

"I accept your apology, Selena." He smiled at her and she returned the gesture, followed by a sharp jab to his shoulder.

Once the boat was docked they were finally able to step upon dry land. A few quiet words were exchanged between Selena, Genkai and Touya and then the ice demon and Jin were departing from them. The trio was spending a few more moments alone. Before the tears fell from Selena's eyes, Touya and Jim wrapped her into hug they held it for several moments

"We need to head back." Touya spoke after a few long moments, "The team has to be in the hotel to check in at sunset. Then we leave for the mission , for a final time."

"I see." Selena looked towards the darkening sky and pouted, "It's begun. Everything is about to change."


	24. I am not a prize to be won!

**Selena trudged down the path, Touya and Jin at her sides. Hikaru looked at Touya jealously, only the ice demon noticed this. Touya didn't care though. He loved Selena, and he would tell that right to Hikaru's face if he had to. Sure it wasn't the same kind of love that the smaller demon felt. But, it was just as strong. Touya would do anything for Selena, even if it meant marking the girl as his own before Selena had the chance to tell everybody the truth. "We'll camp here for the night," Annownced Selena as they came into a rock formation full of caves. "Everybody grab a buddy. We don't want anybody getting lost" The group plopped down all their baggage and began to set up camp. Regardless of what she had just said moments ago, Selena wandered off alone. Surprise, surprise. It didn't take long for her to find a peaceful spot among the woods, close enough to find her way back to her group, but far enough away, so they would not here her tears. "I...I just dont understand, why... why did they put us here? why did my father insist? its not fair! Didnt he ever fall in love once?!? Surely, not my mother, but hadnt he fallen on love with Boton? How can he simply just tell _me_ not to love. Its not fair!" **

**She heard footsteps nearby and she stiffened, blocking her energy. Before the voices came any closer she shot straight up and into a nearby tree. The voices seemed to be directly under her, sure enough, there stood Akio, Jin, and Touya at the base of the tree in a tight circle. But, at the moment, it was not below that intrested her. She had just felt a surge of powerful energy from above and saw a blur black zip by. She slowly raised her head, and sure enough, on the branch just inches above her head, sat Hikaru, just sitting and staring at her. She didnt say a word, just motioned for him to be quiet and listen to the demon below's conversation.**

**"I am concerned for her," said Akio.**

**"Well you know Selena, thats just how she is, she doesnt talk much." Jin shrugged, trying not to give himself away too much.**

**"She wasnt like that five years ago." Akio shot. **

**"She has changed alot. Notice how she is around Hikaru. She doesnt open up to anybody."**

**"She opens up to you and Touya." **

**Before Jin could reply, Touya said coldly, "Says the guy who didnt call or write her in all this time" **

**"Well, my brother told me..."**

**"Your brother knows nothing!"**

**"Kurama has..."**

**"No! Kurama may be around her constantly, but he doesnt know whats in her head. He doesnt know what she needs."**

**"And what is it she needs exactly." hissed Akio. Hikaru shook his head, and Selena nodded. This was the most civil 'conversation' they had had since the arrival of the jr spirit team had arrived.**

**"Enough of this!" declared Jin, "when you both bite off more than you can chew ang get the lass stressed out, dont blame me." and with that, the wind master stormed out of the clearing. Akio sighed and waited until he could breathe normally.**

**When he was calm enough, he repeated his question to the ice demon very clearly. "What does she need, Touya?" Selena was about to snap and Hikaru could tell. He cautiously put a comforting hand on her shoulder, oddly, she did not shrug him off. She just looked him in his eyes that matched the same shade of crimson as her own, with one major difference, there was deep saddness welling in hers.**

**"She needs," Touya began -Selena's eyes flashed angerly- "protection. She has to have the illusion of space. She thinks she'll be okay and unstoppable alone. We all know this is far from the truth. We must let her _think_ that she is alone when she wants it. But, in order to keep her alive and out of harms way, she needs to fight and discourage the demon. Sure, he is a very powerful demon, but he wont destroy the world if we dont stop him by killing him. All he wants is Selena. To him, this is a game, and she is the prize if he wins. The easiest way to end this mission, and Ive told this to her until I was blue in the face, is to have her choose a mate. Its that simple. But she refuses. Also, for some reason, Hiei has been acting strangly lately and does not want her the mate the man Selena loves." Selena refused to meet Hikaru's eyes. So, she had fallen in love, fine. That is what she had been hiding. Fine, but she didnt have to lie about it. Or thats what Hikaru thought she was hiding. Selena glared down at her friend. He was getting way to personal, if he said with whom she was still in love with, she wouldnt hesitate to throw a spirit dagger at him. She gritted her teeth as Touya continued. "Another plan, is to hide her away in spirit world, this is the plan we all like the least. We would only be able to see her once a year, to avoid detection. Whats worse, mail only comes in once a month. The third option, is to have either, Jin or I mate her. Dont get us wrong, we would do it for Selena, we would do anything to keep her safe. but if Either Selena, Jin or I ever fell in love in years down the road, we wouldnt have that option of living a happier life filled with deeper love. The final plan, which makes the most sense if you ask me, is for Selena to just grow a backbone, and tell..."**

**Selena knew what the next words were going to be and she had to stop him. She couldnt allow Touya to say, "Tell Hikaru she still loves him." it was too dangerous and it would hurt the two of them deeply. She quickly jumped out of the tree and landed softly on the ground before Akio. **

**"Look at you! All of you!" she screamed, "Standing around deciding my future! I am not a prize to be won! Who I love, and how I handle it is my buisness! Besides, did you even stop to think about who might be listening out here? For example..." _dont say Hikaru, dont say Hikaru, _she thought, "My FATHER! or... maybe the enemy!" They stared at her, after a moment Touya tried to pull her close. "Dont touch me, Touya!" she hissed, jerking away. "I didnt know you were such a traitor." and with that she stormed off deeper into the woods, cursing choice words of profanity at the men. **

**"Selena! Come back!" Akio called to her retreating form, which was now engulfed in shadows.**

**"Dont you _dare_ follow me! Anyone who does, I'll throw a spirit dagger at them, and try my best to kill 'em!" Moments later, she disappeared from view. Touya felt as though Selena had slapped him, although she sort of deserved it. A twig cracked behind them and they turned to see Kurama and Hiei standing there. **

**"What was that all about?" asked Kurama, but before anyone anwsered him, Hikaru leapt out of the tree and stood next to Hiei, looking just like his twin.**

**"She heard it all," anwsered Hikaru, hands in his pockets, as usual.**

**"You were both up there?" asked Akio, puzzled, "Like...Together?" Hikaru nodded.**

**"And she didnt sever your head from your shoulders?" asked Touya, obviously surprized.**

**"We didnt speak, just listened" he said simply. Hiei's gaze flickered in Hikaru's direction, he knew what used to be between him and Selena hung thickly in the air. He quickly averted his eyes and looked back at the ice apperition. **

**"So what now?" he asked.**

**Touya opened his mouth to speak, but it was Hikaru who replied, "you do what you wish... but _I'm_ going after her." Hikaru didnt waste time waiting for anybody's reaction, he just took off running, with any luck, with his speed verus hers, he'd find her quickly, before she so much as got the chance to do anything stupid.**

**Oddly, she wasnt blocking her energy too well, and Hikaru found her quite easily. She sat with her back pressed up against a tree trunck and leaning her head back, her eyes half closed. From what Hikaru could see, they were also glazed over. Silent tears, that turned into rubies came from the creases of her crimson eyes. She was so lost in thought that she didnt even hear him approach. **

**Hikaru knew he was going out on a limb, to talk to her, the last time he nearly got whiplashed. But, he had to try. He walked up slowly hands still in his pockets and asked. "So you fell in love huh?"**


	25. What have we here?

**"So you fell in love, huh?" that seemed to snap Selena out of her trance and she gazed up at him. To Hikaru's surprize, her eyes weren't angry. In fact, they seemed to be, she looked a little...lost.**

**"Hey, Hikaru" she mumbled and sighed. **

**He came a little closer. "So even someone as calm as you occasionally gets angry, Hm, thats good to know" he flashed her a rare smile. She tried to force one back, but to know success.**

**"Not being able to... express how I truley feel...Havent you ever felt that way?"**

**Hikaru looked around and anwsered honestly, "No." Selena laughed, her crimson eyes gazing into his. There was a moment of instant chemistry, but then they both shook it off. During the moment of silence, Hikaru sat down next to her. "You didnt anwser my question" he looked into the distance**

**"What question?"**

**"You fell in love?" he repeated, dreading the responce.**

**"Yes," she said and Hikaru's heart broke all over again, but she wasnt finished. "About five years ago. Maybe you know of him. His name was Hikaru"**

**Hikaru snapped his head and looked at her. "Thats _not_ what I meant. I mean...recentally"\**

**Selena nodded, "About five days ago." Hikaru's eyes opened wide, did she mean what he thought she meant? No...it wasnt possible.**

**He sighed and asked slowly, "and what was _his_ name?"**

**Selena slapped a hand to her forehead, "Holy crap, Hikaru! Surely you arent really asking that question! I was under the impression that Arata was the stupid one!" she giggled. Hikaru smirked, but continued to play dumb.**

**"So if you like someone..."**

**"An you like someone..." she replied\**

**"and I'm here"**

**"And Im here" They began to lean closer to each other, "but my father says..."**

**"so we shouldnt" they leaned even closer.**

**"We...should just stop this..." -closer-**

**"Before we," Hikaru barely whispered. Without warning, Selena moved her face the last few centimeters and kissed the demon fiercly. Hikaru was at first shocked by it, but quickly recovered and kissed her back with equal pressure. After a few moments the kiss broke. They stared at each other.**

**"You!" she exclaimed in a hushed voice "you...you idiot! I fell in love with _you_"**

**Hikaru breathed. "Me." he said -statement-**

**Selena panted. "You" They sort of stared at the ground for a few seconds, Selena dared peak up, as did Hikaru. He kissed her passionatly, longer this time. One of his arms wrapping around her waist, and the other holding the back of her head. Now at this odd angle, they had rotated 35 degrees. And now it was Hikaru who had his back pinned up against a tree. Selena had both her hands pressed up against the sides of his face. It had been five years since they had last kissed, but they acted as if they hadnt faught, or been apart a day.**

**Well, it didnt take long for Selena to be pulled on top of Hikaru. He had grown at least a foot since she had last saw him, she noticed. "What is going on over here?" called a new voice. Selena and Hikaru's eyes went wide as they broke apart . Hikaru released her shoulders as they stumbled to thier feet. **

**"N..nothing" stammered Selena, for some odd reason at that exact moment, the Jagan started to glow. "Uh-oh," she said, "My dads coming"**

**"Gonna have a heart attack, he is, once I tell him 'bout what his little girl was about to do." laughed Hojo.**

**"WE WERENT DOING ANYTHING!" she yelled, instantly defensive. She began to plead with the idiot boy, "Hojo, please, He'll kill Hikaru and make me clean up the mess!" she tried to force fake tears into her eyes, but because of all the real crying she had been doing lately, it wasnt so easy anymore. Hojo just laughed at her pathetic attempt. This wasnt working, so she quickly changed her tactic. In one quick motion, she reached and grabbed Hojo's "area" roughly. "Yo usay anything, and Im plucking grapes" she growled as Hojo cringed. "Or in your case, raisens" Hojo began to sweat and he nodded furoiusly and Selena released him, shoving him backwards. The loudmouthed boy wouldve fallen to the ground but instead he ran into Hiei, who was just entering the clearing. "D...Dad!" Selena exclaimed**

**Hiei looked at the fool who had fallen into his arms, cast him a disgusted look, and threw him aside. "Selena, come with me!" he commanded, not even acknoleging the other two. He began to walk away in the opposite direction than he had come. He turned his head when he noticed his daughter was not following. "Now Selena!"**

**"But..."**

**Hiei stopped walking and seemed very angry. Selena felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, it suddenly had gotten very cold. "Now!" Selena's heart was suddenly filled with fear. She knew it was in her best intrests to follow. Selena had the sudden urge to grab Hojo, or even better, Hikaru and say "Come with me! protect me!" but she shook it off with in moments. He was just her dad after all...**

**_should be done with this story with in two chapters review please! adn check out my other stories peace!_**


	26. What happened to you?

"None of us should be wandering alone," said Hiei, looking at Selena who was walking at his side. "You least of all."

"Where are we going, Dad?" asked Selena, completely ignoring his comment, she hadn't been alone. Hikaru and Hojo had been with her. Unless he was talking about before in the tree... she decided not to push it.

"You'll see soon enough"

"Hn," (like father like daughter!) "right"

They walked about 10 minutes in silence until Selena began to feel the twitching in her feet, she felt the urge to run suddenly. Selena decided to break the silence, in attempt to kill the urge. She was going to ask him something that she was trying to get up the courage about for nearly six months. Ever since she turned 21. "Dad, what can you tell me about...about Marcy." ever since the actress's death, she had stopped calling her mother mom. She didnt seem worthy of that title.

Hiei did a double-take, but anwsered the question regardless. "Remarkable woman, your mother. Charming, funny, caring. She had this way of seeing the beauty in others. others in fact when..."

Selena felt like she was going to be sick. "Wait! Are we talking about the same woman? Marcy Clarihorn. _My mother!"_

"Yes Selena, do you doubt your father. Yes, I knew your mother. Oh, I remember one day when you were sevem, your mother pulled you away from the lions cage to take pictures for that magizines with you. She refused to let the cameras flash, unless you were there. Id say that was caring--"

Fire shot up in Selena's heart as she remembered that day at the zoo. Just remembering it pissed her off. "Yeah, the only reason we were there that day was bec... Hey! Wait a second! I didnt meet you until I was... Then that means..."

'Hiei' grabbed her wrists, grinning like an idiot. "Thats right, you little bitch. Ive got you all alone and look at that," he mocked looking around the silent forrest. "No daddy around to save you"

Selena struggled with all her might, she could feel her energy draining. "Let me go! I have done nothing to you. Let me go, I havent seen you in 12 years, why the sudden attack? Let me go! Ill do whatever you want, please, let me go." Real fear flashed in Selena's eyes, she thought all was lost. She heard a voice that she hadnt heard since she was a little girl. But she still wouldnt forget, she could never forget. Although 'seeing' this man was unexpected, what she heard next was even more expected.

"Release her!" by now, 'Hiei' had let go of the girl's wrists and had her by the collar. Selena turned and saw a figure in a long tan trench coat...

Fred. (**_note from the author.: if you dont know who Fred is, I sugjest you read the prequel) _**

Selena let out a yowl that was louder than a banshi shrieking. "Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Kurama, Touya, and Hikaru whipped around, still in the clearing. Hojo had been pulled back to camp by Izaioi and Touya had come looking for Selena wanting to apologize. Kurama had just finished telling him that his friend was walking with Hiei. "Selena!" all three demons called out at once. They all looked at each other.

"Wheres Hiei?" exclaimed Kurama.

"I thought you said he was with Selena." Touya shot back quickly. Hikaru rolled his eyes.

"Enough talk! We know that was Selena's voice. Or at least _I _do. Im going after her. I dont care what happened, but Im not waiting around to find out. Im running ahead." And with that. the fire demon took off. They wasted no time standing around looking stupid. It didnt take long for Touya and Kurama to be at his heels. They saw Selena and Hiei up ahead. Touya sprinted up, but ran into the man in the trench coat who was clentching his fists. Touya recongnized him immediatly.

"I thought we took care of you already" Touya exclaimed. Fred gave him an evil look.

"Silence you fool!" hissed 'Fred', "I need your help"

"Why the hell would we help you? For what Ive heard about you from..." started Hikaru

"Shut up! Its me you fool. That jackass stole my body. And in this damn human body I cant do a thing. The only thing I have managed to acomplish is to paralize him momentarily but in this damn body, I can do little else." Hikaru, Touya, and Kurama nodded and dove into action.

"Shards of winter!" yelled Touya, shooting several razor sharp ice chunks at Hiei's body. Hikaru punched Hiei's body in the gut, causing him to release Selena. Selena plopped into Kurama's arms.

Kurama smiled down at her, "Hello"

"Hi," she smirked, Kurama helped her stand to her feet.

"Are you alright?" the fox asked. Selena didnt anwser, she only turned to look at the people defending her. Then something caught her eye.

She turned back to Kurama. "That man over there! in the trench coat," she pointed to where the man was still standing. "That man, his name is Fred. You remember him, dont you. Legally he is my step father, and whats worse. My dad has gone mental!" Fred began to walk forward. Selena dove behind Kurama and peeked out while Touya and Hikaru and 'Hiei' continued to fight. "Go away!" she cried. Kurama looked at him, and drew his rose, preparing to strike.

"Stay back! Im warning you." Fred kept walking closer.

"Kurama, " said the man, coming closer still. "your first girlfriend's name was Suishiniku, also known at Suichi. People picked on her because of her glasses and because she smelled like horses. But when you were alone, you used to sing show tunes." Selena didnt know what that had to do with anything, nor didn she care. She was just glad that Hojo or Yusuke were not here or Kurama would never hear the end of it. But Kurama didnt seem embarrased, in fact, he did a double take.

"Hiei?" he exclaimed, 'Fred' had finally reached them and stood about two feet away. He looked at Selena, who shivered with fear behind the fox. Fred held out his hand, in attempt to touch the girl. But Selena, slipped a little to the side, still behind her friend, but out of Fred's reach.

Fred pulled his hand back, shook his head and said, "Its alright, Selena, its me" Selena peaked out and stared deep into her step father's eyes. She remembered them as always a deep blue, have glazed over. But, they were now the same shade of crimson as her own.

"Dad" she exclaimed. He stretched out his hand again and touched her cheek.

"Its me" he said, Selena closed her eyes and leaned into his warmth. That was why she had been so distant lately, she had noticed the change, but she never would have expected her dad to be a different person entirely.

"What happened to you?"

"I dont really know" Hiei's voice screamed in the background, a tone that Selena had never heard before.

Selena whipped around. "They're killing him!" she shrieked. "Thats against spirit law! If they kill him, you might not have a body to go back to." she took off running towards her two friends. Touya had just called out _blizards of frosts,_ an attack that nobody had ever survived. It was a pretty new and dirty trick. "No!" screamed Selena, she jumped and tackled the ice Shinobi, knocking him flat and landing on top of him. Neither of them blushed, because they both knew they felt no attraction for each other. "Oh! Sorry!" she groaned

Touya picked her up off the ground. and held her elbows and she held his. "No worries", by this time Hikarua was really powering up. His whole body was now consumed by purpled flame.

"Hikaru, dont! If you destroy his body, my dad will never be able to come back. He'll never be a demon again. He wont be the same! Please dont." Whether Hikaru wasnt paying any attention, or didnt hear her cries, it was hard to tell. Either way, he began to shoot his flames.

"Dragon of the darkness, Flame!!!!"

Selena had no time to think, "Hikaru, stop it!" and she dove right into the blast.

**_oh cliffy, i should be done in two chapters, but ill have a sequel to this one too. i have also finsihed clevery disguised and memories i just need to type them, next week is spring break so i probably wont get the chance to type ill get them up soon. let me know if you want sequels to any of my stories. and REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW. flame if you must. -Jaganchi B_**


	27. Shit

Like Hiei, Hikaru could not fully control his flames. He tried to cut it off, but he couldnt. Selena saw her life flash before her eyes and she knew she was about to die. _"Dad, Hikaru, Kurama, Touya, everyone. I want none of you to miss me as I leave this world behind."_ she thought, But by a clever twist of fate, the blast barely nicked her, just burnt her hand which bore the dragon shaped birthmark. Touya leapt in front of her. "Blizzards of ice!" he cried. It was the most magical thing that Selena had ever seen. Touya's attack and Hikaru's coliding. Neither stronger, just meeting in the middle, but it was only a matter of time until one of the fighters began to tire and the other attack would kill him. Selena knew she had to act fast, she couldnt lose either of her friends, she just didnt think she could bare it. She didnt know what she was doing, but she took a few steps back, ran and did a front flip, landing perfectally evenly on top of the blasts."Selena, What are you doing?" Touya yelled at her.

"I dont know," she anwered honestly, "Im making this up as I go!"

"Get away!" ordered Hikaru. But Selena didnt move. Either attack alone would kill her, but because she was half fire, and half ice demon, when she finally sunk down, she would have each attack protecting her against the other, or at least...she hoped. She took a breathe as her whole body was consumed.

Hiei in Fred's body wanted to leap forward but Kurama held him in place. He would be killed for sure. So Hiei shoved his _own _body into the attack as well. Fireworks erupted everywhere, not the ones that Americans had to celebrate, but sparks everywhere, blow figures seemed to glow neon in the light. There was nothing more to be done. Kurama looked down at his friend. "You do realize, you most likely just striped yourself of all demon energy. You realize you might never be able to go back"

Hiei just stared off into the distance, "I dont care" he said, sounding like his normal self when he didnt care, but then his voice softened. His eyes filled with concern. "As long as Selena survives"

Kurama was silent for a little while, then he said quietly, "I would like to think that I would have done the same thing" Out of nowhere, Jin and Yukina appeared. Jin sucked in one big breathe and BLEW. The attack fumes diminished and Selena and Fred fell to the ground out cold...or at least they thought. It was Fred. He got up and charged at his body and began to draw the sword attached to his hip and put it to Hiei's neck, his back pressed against a tree trunk. "Hiei!" Kurama cried. "Dont move! Without your demon power, your own body could..."

"Kurama, stay out of this!" someone hissed, it wasnt until this moment that they realized who was speaking. Hiei was, in his own skin. Selena began to come to and Yukina helped her to her feet. She sized up the situation within less that seven seconds and ran to who she thought was her father, "No!" she cried, "No!"

Hiei looked at her, "Is he not the man who tortured you when you were younger, living with that witch. Who beat you and made you feel like a rat?"

Selena silently nodded, "He is, but I have to bare that. Killing him wont erase my past, it will only bring more pain. Dont father, please" Yukina stepped up, but before she could say anything, Koenma appeared in teenage form. "Geez! Pasifier breathe! Dont do that! We're still not used to you being at eye level."

Koenma scowled. "And this _pasifier breath_ still isnt used to you making an ass out of yourself."

_Ouch! _thought Selena Jaganchi, _I walked right into that one. _But what she said was, "What do you want Koenma? In case you havent noticed, we have a mission to finish, we'd probably be alot farther along if this _jackass_ hadnt gotten in our way."

Koenma rolled his eyes. "Acually, this case is closer to be closed than you think"

"But we are no where near the castle," said Kurama, puzzled and glaring down at Fred.

"Ah, so you heard that. Well, we had to tell that to 'Hiei' so that he wouldnt know that we were on to him. He _was_ the mission, the entire time. We just needed to find the real Hiei in this scum's body and in thinking that you knew where you were going, he led us right to him."

"So what now?" asked Selena

"The mission remains that same," continued Koenma, "Now that we've captured him. You must decide what to do with him. He wanted you as his mate remember?"

Selena shivered at the thought, "Ewwwwww"

"So what will it be?" asked Koenma.

Selena put her hands on her head, "I need time to think!" she exclaimed. "We dont know how long he has been in my dad's body. So I dont know what I am supposed to do, whether I can love who I want to, I dont know what to do anymore..." She breathed and said calmly, "Feed the jackass to Puu for all I care." and she turned and walked back towards camp.

Touya came ober and sat next to Selena on the hill. "Im sorry for calling you a traitor," she said, refusing to meet his eyes, and stared off into the distance. "You shouldnt have jumped in front of me, you know. You could have been killed."

"But I wasnt" said Touya, putting his arm around her. Selena rested her head against his shoulder and leaned into him.

"Touya," Selena asked quietly, Touya looked into the distance as well and squeezed her shoulder.

"Hm?"

"Why did my life have to be this way?" she asked, trying with out success to blink away tears.

Touya looked at her, "what do you mean?"

"My life," she repeated. "What with my mother, and when I was nine and ran away, and then that whole thing when I was 17, and now this. Why Touya? Why cant I be just like everybody else?" real tears began to fall. Touya kissed her forehead.

"Because you are you. You are a lot stronger than everybody else. Because only you can handle it just right...And you are not an egg, you will not break."

Selena buried her head into Touya's chest, still crying but no longer distraught. Just looking for a little attention. "But what if I am an egg?"

Touya smirked and sqeezed her to him again. "I know you're not."

"Thanks," she paused, "So where do I go from here? Im so lost, Touya..."

"'Fraid I cant help you there. You'll just have to follow your heart. With that Touya kissed her cheek, got up and walked off.

"Follow your heart." muttered Selena. She jumped to her feet and whirled around. "Wait Touya!" but it was no longer the ice demon that was standing there, but instead she came face to face with her fire demon. "Hikaru!" she gasped. Before she could stop herself, giving herself time to think, she flung herself into him. "You're alright!" tears fled from the folds of her clamped shut eyes. "Im so glad!"

Hikaru was shocked by her sudden show of affection, for some reason he was more shocked than earlier at the tree. He carefully wrapped his arms around her. "Im all right" he said, but he wasnt sure she heard him. She pulled away, sorrow in her eyes.

"Hikaru, meet me in tonight in the temple at midnight. Come alone and dont turn on any lights, we dont want to risk waking the rest of them. I just...I need some time to think. Until then..." and she slipped away. Hikaru tried to open his mouth to protest her leaving, but to no success. One moment they were so close and the next moment she was leaving, already across the clearing.

miles away.

"shit."


	28. It just means you're fighting

To say that Selena had butterflies in her stomach would be the understatement of the century. At 11:45, she left her sleeping bag, noting that Hikaru's was already empty. As was Touyas, but she wasnt sure why, but it didnt really concern her. He was a big boy, he could do what he wanted. He could take care of himself. She quickly took atvantage of the fact that both Kurama and More importantly, Hiei, were fast asleep. She stumbled into the temple, trying not to bang into things, which was hard because she couldnt afford to turn on any lights, because as she told Hikaru, people would notice. She stiffened as she heard scuffling on the other side of the room. She took it that Hikaru had beat her there, thats why his sleeping bag was empty. There had to be someway to get to each other with out speaking. Suddnely an idea struck her, she began to tap her foot. bam-knock-knock-click-bam, came from across the room in reply. Selena followed the sounds, in the direction that she thought would lead her to the fire demon. So it went, each of them following the sounds. Until they were close enouph to each other to hear each other's ragged breathing. Selena, before she had ANY second thoughts, grabbed him and kissed him deeply. Niether breaking nor saying anything. Tonight they were letting all emotion out and letting thier bodies speak for them, it was an unspoken agreement between the two. They panted and continued to 'make out' and were just starting to go a little further, when all of a sudden all of the lights clicked on and the room was flooded with light. They were were busted. Both Selena and..."Touya!?!" Selena exclaimed, instantly releasing her hand from his belt loop, she had thought he seemed a little tall.

"Selena! I thought you were--" Touya cried, yanking his hands from her butt where they had been comfortably resting. The friends' eyes shot to the doorway.

"Hikaru!" gasped Hiei's daughter, "Its...Its not what it looks like!. I..."

"Save your breathe!" hissed the fire demon and stormed from the doorway and down the stone steps. Selena and Touya instantly broke apart and Selena took off running after Hikaru.

"Hikaru!" she called, but he made no indication that he had heard her. "Hikaru, let me explain!"

Within an instant Hikaru got more ticked off then he was a moment ago, if that was possible and whirled around. "Explain what?" Selena gasped and almost ran into him and sent them both hurtling down the steps because she had to hault so quickly. "Explain that things were better when you were ignoring me like you were a few days ago. When my heart wasnt so broken. Or that you act all innocent to win people's trust, enemy or not and then gain the upper hand? Or how you go around with the whole 'poor me' attitude and you play the victim, when you are really just another one of Koenma's fools!"

"Shut up!" screamed Selena, not caring who she woke up, tears were falling freely down her face. But she refused to break her gaze, she stared him right in the eye. "Shut up!" Hikaru looked taken aback.. He had seen her yell, he had seen her cry, but never like this before. "Shut up, Hikaru! I thought Touya was you! I thought I was kissing you! I love _you_, Hikaru!" All the fight seemed to leave her just then an she whispered, "I thought you knew that", shaking her head, she began to walk past him, but she only got down about two steps when she heard.

"I do"

She turned around and Hikaru slowly came down the steps towards her. "But..." she started. Hikaru smiled.

"Shut up" he said gentally and kissed her, she kissed him back. When the hiss broke, Selena looked at Touya, who was now standing in the doorway of the temple they had just left. Illuminated by all the lights. Hikaru looked at his mentor, and the father of the girl, no the woman he loved, he did nothing. So he turned to Kurama, who also gave the nod. Selena and Hikaru gazed into each others eyes and Selena nodded and with no extra urging, Hikaru bit her shoulder then she followed suit. The only person who acted differently now that the whole team was awake. Hiei looked away pointily, as if to say, _Well, if you must._ But that was just his way of giving his blessing.

Selena had decided to bring this mission to a close, by choosing her own mate and as Touya had almost put it once, "Growing a backbone and telling Hikaru that she still loved him." Jin had always, since they were kids, nobody had ever been good enough for Selena. No one but Touya and himself, (not that Jin and Selena liked each other, or dated, but still...) They werent ready just yet to let thier little sister out fo thier protection. Well Jin wjould just have to learn that being silent, doesnt always mean that you're sad, it just means you're fighting.

**_the end_**

**_read and review_**

**_and a sequel is on its way! Dont worry!_**

**_thanks_**

**_-JAGANCHI B!_**


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